Mass Effect: From The Ashes
by UnknownArtyom
Summary: Michael Phoenix decides that one day he would go on an expedition with two of his friends. After circumstances caused him to be thrown into the Mass Effect universe, he is left desperate and with the bare minimum. To survive he will need to do anything necessary and learn ...he is led into a web of criminality and suffering. Many would say he's too young, but he has no choice.
1. Wake Up Phoenix

Going on this trip to a dig site was a bad idea. Oh well, at least I managed to finish Mass Effect 3 before I left, the fucking God-Child pissed me off but other than that I would give the ending a solid 6 out of ten.

I glance down at the floor of the cave we're exploring. We, being my group of friends who had managed to get separated from the rest of the damn group. I can hear the unsettling echo of water dripping from the ceiling and coming to rest on the ground. I look down at my ID card, it is hanging from a lanyard and reads 'Michael Phoenix."

"Dammit, who's idea was it to separate ourselves from the group?" My taller friend, Daniel Brady demands. Daniel was slightly taller than me and boasted a lot of muscle. He had dark, almost black hair that rested over his chocolate brown eyes in bangs.

"Okay, I'm sorry!" My other friend, Seamus O'Hanlon shouts back. He was shorter than me and quite thin built with blonde hair and green eyes.

"Look guys, I think I see light ahead, let's just keep going." I say. Breaking off the impending argument that was bound to occur between the two of them.

We continue walking, eventually we enter another chamber in the cave, it was very dark. The kind of inky blackness that you would encounter at the bottom of the ocean. I take out my torch, and the others do the same. Upon switching them on, the piercing light reveals a pillar, however it smoothes out near the top and developed a small overhang at the very top. It was around eight feet tall and emitted a small blue glow.

"I think not touching this thing would be a good idea, just saying." Seamus points out.

"Just like it was a good idea to come down here in the first place?" Dan asks sarcastically.

"Knock it off, both of you. I'm gonna take a closer look at this thing." I order, with confidence.

I walk slowly towards it, making sure not to make any sudden movements. I can almost feel a type of energy emitting from it. I take another step.

Suddenly, I feel myself being pulled forward.

"Michael!" They shout in unison.

I struggle to break free, but I am still being pulled forward with no sign of stopping. After a few more seconds a bright light flashes across my vision and I feel faint.

* * *

><p>I crack my eyes open slightly, the flood of bright light that assaults my vision forces me to close them. Anyone catch the license plate of the truck that absolutely fucked me up? No? Okay then. I open my eyes slowly and see myself looking at the sky. It was bright and sunny, much unlike a British winter day. There was also another problem, a lot of the buildings around me look very modern, they are completely white. I sit up and realise I'm sat in an alleyway.<p>

I don't have much time to think before two other guys walk up to me. I dust myself off and throw myself up. I walk over to them.

"Hey, I had a party that got out of hand last night...do you guys know where I am?" I ask innocently with the small lie.

The more intimidating one speaks up.

"Yeah...the wrong side of the Presidium." He says and pulls out a a homemade knife.

He slashes at me, I clumsily hop back and get in a fighting stance. Hoping that the self-defence classes I took in London would help.

He swings with the knife again and I grab his hand, I bring my elbow down on his arm and he drops the blade and whilst he is stunned I pull him forward and force his face into my fist. He drops to the floor and the other one runs. Odd, most people don't run from nineteen year old guys.

I check on the injured man, without warning he leaps up and forces me against the wall. He wraps his hands around my throat and I start choking for breath, before long my lungs are burning and my vision begins to blur. I hear a crack resonate through the alleyway, the man's grip loosens and he falls to the ground with a hole in his head.

I look for the source and I cannot contain my shock, a live...FUCKING Asari. I must be hallucinating, there is a logical explanation for this. Oh crap she's walking this way, stay calm Mikey!

"Hey, are you alright?" She asks, putting her now folded sniper rifle on her back.

"I guess so." I deadpan.

"What are you doing in an alleyway like this?" She questions.

"Party gone wrong...I was on Earth...now, I'm here." I lie, and she doesn't look convinced.

"Crazy party...how are you planning on getting back?" She asks.

"I honestly have no idea but I think I'll be alright, thank you." I say sincerely.

"Are you a biotic then?" She asks.

"Excuse me?" I retort questioningly.

"Your aura flared up in the fight, anyway. See you." She says and walks off.

Fuck. So if I'm not insane, the object I interacted with has sent me to the Mass Effect universe and pumped me with enough Eezo that I should be dead and my biotics flare without an amp. Can't I just have a normal day?

If I'm going to survive, I need a biotic amp, an Omni-Tool, credits, guns and my own place . Maybe I can sell a few tidbits of information to that volus who works for the Shadow Broker. Depends on the year. No, they will ask how I got the Intel. Looks like I'm going to have to sell my phone and iPod, in the hope I will get at least a little cash. Cerberus would be my only other option, but they don't let people go easily...Alliance and C-Sec are a no-go because they will have no records of me. Fuck! I need a plan...

I sit on a nearby bench and begin to brainstorm for a few hours...

* * *

><p>After a long while of thinking, I come up with the only plan that could work. It may also kill me. I would need to work for somebody, or steal some amour, guns and head off too Omega, where I have less chance of being found out but also less chance of survival. Maybe I can work for Aria? Fuck it, I'll go with that. Worst comes to worst, I'll join the Blue Suns...can't believe I just said that.<p>

* * *

><p>After figuring out that it was early 2182 from a nearby map, and selling my phone and iPod for 10,000 credits, I had managed to buy a shitty pistol and a decent Omni-Tool. It was easy to figure out how to use the thing, it's like having a smartphone that has constant internet access. I also had enough remaining money to buy some new clothes and a shuttle ticket to Omega.<p>

I'd bought some black 21st century style skinny jeans, a plain white t-Shirt and a leather jacket. It was a cheap outfit and it worked for me.

The shuttle wasn't too full, the only people on it were me, a young human woman, and some Batarian who kept giving me funny looks. Seeing these alien species up close is still unnerving me slightly.

"So why are you going to Omega?" She asks, stunning me.

"Oh, um. I just need a job really? How about you?" I ask and she sighs.

"Visiting family, I didn't get to see them over Christmas so I decided to try and see them now." I wince...that makes me remember my own family, my mum and dad..I wipe away a tear.

"I hope that goes well for you, I'm getting to catch some sleep now." I say and she nods.

"Okay, thank you." She says with a smile. I close my eyes and let sleep take over me. In the rush of events, I didn't realise how tired I had become. I soon fall asleep.

* * *

><p><em>I am in front of Commander Shepard. Her blazing red hair and emerald green eyes are her most striking features. We are standing at the bridge of the first Normandy. The ominous, dark lighting of the ship sends a shiver up my spine.<em>

_"I'm ready to fight commander." I say and she grins._

_"Glad to hear, go get suited up, Phoenix." She responds and her voice fades. _

* * *

><p><em>The seeker swarms were overwhelming, I knew that I couldn't keep this up forever. I drop done on one knee and concentrate. I manage to stand, Shepard and Garrus had made it to the end.<em>

_"Michael, come on!" Garrus shouts, and suddenly my barrier drops._

_I feel overwhelming pain and I scream._

* * *

><p>My eyes shoot open and I sed that the shuttle has stopped. We're those dreams, or visions? Either way, one thing is now clear. I need to try and find a way back home, also I need to try and become experienced enough in combat to assist Commander Shepard in stopping Saren, she won't just take some young man along for the hell of it.<p>

I step out of the shuttle and I instantly regretted it. Omega was exactly as Miranda had described it in the game. The place is a dump and smells of piss. Tall high rise flats flank both of my side's and the sky has a creepy red tinge. The sounds of shouting, walking and vehicles fade into the background and cause an increasingly loud crescendo of white noise.

I open my map and find that I am a short way from Afterlife if I take some back alleys, however considering the whole fiasco on the Citadel, it doesn't seem too smart. I walk down the street and come to a large plaza. I turn right and try to fade in with the crowd, eventually I see the entrance to the seedy, yet extravagant night club. I walk towards the door and see the bouncer Elcore, looking like...Well, an Elcore.

"Annoyed: Entrance is 100 credits Human." The monotone behemoth demands and I pull out a chit, I hand it to him and he grunts.

"Relieved: Go ahead." He says and I walk past the large alien, into the corridor.

I walk through the club and the music that was being played was electrifying, it made me want to hop onto the dance floor and bust a move. However, I had business to attend to. I walk past several people, a cute woman eyes me, obviously drunk.

I walk up the steps, I get half way and the Batarian guard stops me. Okay, cross-species diplomacy, level 1.

"What are you doing?" He shouts forcefully to be heard over the music.

"I'm here to see Aria about a job!" I shout back and he shakes his head.

"Fine, but I have to take your gun." He yanks my handgun from my hip. "Now go." He yells.

What a dick.

I walk up the rest of the stairs and I see her in the flesh. The living embodiment of Omega, she has a powerful beauty to her and she ushers me to stand in front of her.

"What brings you to Omega?" She asks and I smile, trying to appear confident.

"I'm not here to violate the one rule. I just want a job, as an errand runner, a mercenary of sorts." I reply and she chuckles.

"You're a bit young aren't you, come back later." She responds dismissively.

I begin to turn and I hear an electronic flicker. It almost sounded like a tactical cloak. Without thinking I turn around and swing my arm out, instead of my fist making contact with someone, my arm glows blue, a small shock wave erupts from it and there is a loud bang. The cloak shorts out and a man is revealed. He is quickly carted of by Aria's thugs. I am shocked by what I had done as it came naturally.

"You've surprised me. Sit down." She orders and I take a seat on the luxurious sofa. "You seem like a decent biotic, at such a young age too." She says and I struggle for words.

"Well. Um, I don't actually have a biotic-amp." I mutter and she only tilts her head slightly.

"If I were to give you a job as a errand runner, would you accept?" She asks.

"Depends on what I would be doing." I say and she laughs.

"Nothing too serious. Recovering stolen items, that sort of thing. You will need an amp though. And some armour, better guns. Luckily for you we can supply you with all of these things." She answer and I nod.

"I'm in. When will I get the amp fitted?" I ask and she groans slightly.

"Tomorrow, I've just sent you the location of an apartment outside of Afterlife. I have also sent you the keycode. The complex is full of your fellow employees. Now, what's your name?" She asks finally and I take a moment.

"Michael Phoenix. Pleasure to have met you Aria." I say and she rolls her eyes.

"Yeah, skip the pleasantries, I'll send you the location of the doctors practice that will fit the amp tomorrow. Also, don't worry, they are high quality and safety." She finishes I gulp slightly. I fucking hope so it my brain is going to look like chicken and. Noodle soup.

"Thank you." I say and walk away.

I head back down the stairs and a Turian approaches me. He pats me on the shoulder.

"Hey, I saw what you did to that cloaked guy. Without an amp too, impressive." He says and I feel like I'm missing something.

"Is it Turian nature to talk to people you don't know?" I ask warily.

"More like my nature, sorry for not introducing myself. Serrius Itarian, I work for Aria as a bounty hunter." He states and I nod in interest.

"Michael Phoenix, I just going to do odd jobs for her." I say and he chuckles.

"I look forward to possibly working with you Mr. Phoenix." He says pleasantly and walks off.

I shake my head and ask myself if that had really just happened. I decide to leave and the boom of the club begins to fade as I walk away. I see the apartment building that Aria head mentioned and I enter it quickly, not wanting to stay on the rough streets of Omega any longer than I have to.

I check my Omni-Tool and see that my room is on the fifth floor, apartment 147. I walk up the winding flights of stairs and I eventually make it to the door. I input the keycode ***** and open the door.

The place didn't look too shabby. It had a nice 40 inch vid screen in front of a modest three person sofa. There is a Coffee table next to the sofa, and the kitchen is in the corner of the room, with all of the essentials like the oven and kettle.

I quickly head into the kitchen and see that there is a washing machine that also drugs clothes after a wash. I sling my bag off of my back and put the clothes I had worn to Omega in the machine and turn it on. I then walk into the bathroom.

It's quite late at night, 10:16, so I quickly go and step into the small shower cubicle that I have. I set the water onto a high heat, and let the deluge assault my skin. I didn't have much time to think about my feelings towards my current situation in the last day. I think of my hometown, ****** and how much I'm going to miss kicking a football around with my friends. It brings a tear of sorrow to my eye, I may not see them again.

My thoughts shift to my family. My mum, dad and younger sister. Never will I get another birthday card from them. Get to see their proud faces as I go to university, anything like that will now not happen.

Without thinking, I bring my fist back and strike the wall. Tears now streaming down my face. I dry myself off and enter my small bedroom which is very spartan with only a double bed and set of drawers.

I lie in the bed and think about my fucked up situation and the fucked up choices I'll have to make.

"Fuck!" I yell as I slam my arms onto the bed.

I try to cover my eyes with my right arm so I could sleep...

* * *

><p><strong><em>An: Thank you to anyone who has read this chapter all the way through. A review and a follow would be greatly appreciated. Any input would be great, thanks again and goodnight folks!<em>**


	2. First Is Always The Worst

_I am standing atop a relatively tall hill. The sky is a mixture of blood red and black, lightning streaks across the heavens and gives the place an intimidating air. Rain starts to fall and it begins to burn my skin on contact._

_I sprint for cover and find a small, derelict shack. I enter in the hope of finding shelter. I hear a noise and the ground underneath me is ripped open, a horde of vines pin me to the wall of the shack, restricting any movement._

_I struggle to break free, but it's no use. The unmistakable sound of footsteps enters my ears and I attempt to shout. To my dismay, I remain silent. A man wearing a black hood over his head walks in, he flicks his hood back and is revealed to be Seamus._

_"Seamus, you have to get me out of here." I gasp out, but he chuckles darkly._

_"After you got us in this mess, I don't think so." He says, his voice is low and emotionless and he brandishes a blade. A flash of lightning illuminates the room and I can see the, almost demonic smile on his face._

_He brings it onto my chest and I scream out in pain. He drags the knife down and begins to carve on my chest. He then goes for a killer blow to my head and I shout._

* * *

><p>I bolt upwards, in a cold sweat, that was a fucked up dream. Speaking of dreams! I look around in the hope that I would be in my own bed. However, I see that I was still in my apartment on Omega. So it wasn't a dream...Dammit.<p>

I sit up and run a hand through my hair. I have the operation today. I climb out of bed and head to the shower, I only take a quick, cold one before getting out and drying myself off. How the hell did this happen? The pillar must have brought me here somehow. While I do want to go home, there won't be a way to if the Reapers destroy everything.

I walk into the kitchen and throw on the clothes from yesterday, they had been washed and dried overnight. I exit the apartment after this and lock the door behind me. This operation could either go great and I become a powerful biotic, or it goes wrong and my brain will be turned into a fruit smoothie. The latter wasn't too appealing.

I check my Omni-Tool, the details that Aria sent me says that the place I need to go to is literally down the street, oddly convenient. I begin walking and luckily for me, there was a big crowd that I could blend into. I wouldn't become an easy target for anybody like this.

I see the place that Aria had mentioned, and from first impressions, I think she was right. In comparison to the rest of Omega, this place was pristine looking and I suddenly begin to feel more at ease.

I walk in and see that the inside was exactly the same, spotless white walls. Even a ficus plant in the corner. People of every race are sitting on chairs and waiting for their name to be called. I turn to the right and see a reception desk with a young looking Asari stood, typing away on her terminal. I walk over.

"Hey, I have an appointment to have a biotic amp fitted, is it possible to be seen now?" I ask and she speaks in a language that I don't quite understand. Fuck, I don't have a translator...looks like that's one more thing for them to stick inside me.

"I'm not being racist, I don't have a translator fitted and I don't understand Asari. Could I please speak to a Human doctor?" I ask and she nods before walking off.

A few minutes later, a Caucasian man who looked like he was in his early thirties speaks to me.

"Mr. Phoenix. Looks like you are in for a biotic amplifier fitting, and from what my colleague has said, a translator?" He asks and I chuckle.

"That sounds about right, am I liable to sue if my brain becomes a smoothie?" I joke and he shakes his head.

"Nope, now go straight down the corridor to your left and enter room 5c. That's where you will have your operation." He says and I nod knowingly.

"Thanks, have a nice day." I finish politely.

"You too sir." He says and I begin walking.

I see a sign on one of the doors that says '5c' and I open it. Upon entry I see an operating table and several other pieces of equipment, I don't have time to take anything else in before the surgeon tries to speak to me.

"Ah, Mr. Phoenix. You are here for the biotic implant and translator fitting, correct?" He asks and I sigh.

"Yes." I deadpan and looks over his notes.

"You have two choices Mr. Phoenix. You can either choose the safer, more tested L3Y Implant or you can try the prototype LX4 Implant which has a higher power level and energy conservation than the L3." He says and I ponder my options in my head. I don't really have much to lose.

"Can I get this implant removed then fit a more up to date one if it were to come out?" I ask. He simply nods. "Then I will take the prototype please." I say and he smiles.

"Excellent, now just lay down and I will administer the anaesthetic." He says.

I lie on top of the the operating table and he attaches a drip to my arm. I start to feel tired, eventually I go under completely.

* * *

><p>I wake up and I feel a dull throbbing in the back of my head. I see a doctor, he notices that I'm awake and allows me to sit up.<p>

"Mr. Phoenix, are you properly awake?" The man asks and I cough.

"Yes, but I think I have the hangover from hell." I half joke. This causes him to laugh, I wince.

"That is normal, try to take it easy. The operation for both implements was a success."

"Okay, thanks doc." I say as he walks out of the door.

* * *

><p>A few days had passed since I had the operation. I'd been honing my control of my biotics by lifting small objects and trying to keep them in place, then moving back to their original location.<p>

It's been going well. I flick through the channels on my vid screen. Nothing of interest seems to stick out, so I flick on the news

_"Now we have an interview with the Lion of Elysium, Lieutenant Commander Madison Shepard. Commander, how exactly did you carry on against such insurmountable odds?" The reporter asks._

The camera panned to Shepard and she was stunning to say the least. You could tell by looking at her that she was strong. Her crimson hair and emerald green eyes combining to frame the face of a beautiful but dangerous woman.

_"I just kept fighting for my comrades and the innocents of the colonies. The odds never crossed my mind. I just wanted to protect as many people as possible." She responds and I am about to continue watching until my Omni-Tool beeps._

That'll probably be Aria telling me about my first job. Nobody else has my details. I open the message and this confirms my thoughts. I wonder what I'm going to end up doing, it can't be good, that's for sure.

**Michael-**

**One of my runners has just dropped a weapon and some armour at your doorstep. Your job is to enter a factory that serves as a smugglers den. The people running it have taken something important, a painting. You'll know it when you see it. As for guards, they'll all be drugged up junkies with shit weapons. Good luck.**

**-Aria**

Okay...in all honesty I was expecting something simpler for my first job, but I should've known that Aria is a demanding boss. I walk to my front door and I open it. Sure enough, a suit of armour and a handgun are placed there. I pick them both up and analyse them. From what I could remember the armour looked like it was a light suit of Titan Armour and the handgun was an Edge Pistol.

I take them inside and shut the door behind me. My Omni-Tool pings again and I see that Aria has sent me the location of the factory. I touch the back of my head and wonder if I'm going to use my biotics properly today. I quickly suit up and put the pistol onto a magnetic lock on my hip. I ponder whether or not to put my helmet on, I decide that while protective, the helmet will limit my peripheral vision, something that could prove deadly in battle. I also grab my bag, from the picture that Aria sent me, the painting should fit in it.

I leave my apartment and enter the bustling streets, I would probably stick out a little more now with my armour, but someone with armour isn't a rare sight on Omega. I duck and weave through the crowds, some give me looks of surprise, likely because they think I'm too young. But, I'm nearly twenty for God sake, sure I'm not even in my twenties but I'm certainly not a kid.

I begin to see the factory, but I also see the problem. Two men are standing by the front door. Obviously on guard duty. I don't particularly want to announce my presence yet. I don't have any explosives or night vision, so knocking out the power generator won't work. Looks like I'll have to think of something else.

I see a tin can next to me. Okay, this always worked in Far Cry, so please work now. I pick it up and I feel a tingle up my spine as I use my biotics to assist me in throwing it. I launch it a distance away from the men, they take the bait and begin to walk away, curious about the noise.

I take the opportunity, I run for the door, open it, get inside and close it again. My heart is racing. Now I'm inside, I just have to keep a low profile and steal it. Getting out again may be a problem, there may be a fire escape or something.

I crouch-walk through the narrow corridor, I can feel my heart pounding against my chest. Why did Aria send me here without backup? Is she fucking testing me? Oh that's great.

I slowly enter the main room, I see a lot of crates full of goods that would be smuggled all over the galaxy, then something catches my eye. I see that all of the guards in the room are unconscious. I hear the same sound that I heard at Afterlife, the electronic flickering.

I spin around, I feel a rush of energy as I swing my arm out and a powerful shock wave is launched at the area where I heard the sound. I hear a feminine shout, a thud and the sound again. I look down. No fucking way. I see the woman reach for her handgun that is by her side, I kick it away and point my own at her. I see the painting lying a few feet from her.

"Don't try it." I say in cold fashion. The streak of purple on her lip. The black cloak and hood. She was unmistakable.

"Impressive, how did you know where I was?" She asks and I chuckle.

"Miss Goto, the cloak you have makes an electric flickering sound. I heard it and responded. Michael Phoenix, at your service. Now I'm not going to kill you but I do need that painting." I say with more warmth this time.

"Why not? It would make your life easier. No master thief trying to get you back." She jokes and I smile.

"Go on. I have a feeling the galaxy may need you at some point." I say, I also grab the painting and put it in my bag. She cloaks again and, presumably escapes.

Damn. I never thought I would meet Kasumi, even less so to discover her. Then again the cloak will likely be upgraded in the coming years and she will be virtually undetectable. If I remember correctly cloak technology is very poor in the earlier years of Mass Effect.

Out of the blue, I hear the whining of an alarm and a squad of seven mercenaries enter the room. Just my luck.

"Take him down! The boss wants that item!" The leader yells, they are all wearing grey armour and are equipped with Lancer assault rifles.

Fuck. I knew this wouldn't go smoothly.

I dive behind a crate as they all open fire, shredding the spot at which I was just standing. I peak out of cover and see an electric discharge envelope all of them, this brings down their shields. Not knowing where it came from, but also not complaining, I exit cover and raise my pistol. I drop the leader in four shots, because of the fact that I am not familiar with mass effect weapons and expected more recoil.

I launch a shock wave which throws them all to the ground. I then raise my arm quickly and use a powerful lift which brings four of them into the air. I gather energy into my right hand which turns into a warp, I throw it and it connects with them, causing a huge biotic explosion, which vaporized them. I turn and bring my pistol up. I drop to my knee when I feel a burning pain at the back of my head. It is excruciating and I shout.

"Lights out dickhead!" One of the remaining enemies shout and I know that I am going to die. I haven't even lived here long enough to make an impact.

Instead of feeling bullets crash against me, I hear shouts of pain and gunshots. I look up and see that Kasumi had killed them, just before they could kill me.

"Looks like you needed some help 'Mr. Phoenix'. She says, with confidence and I grunt. Managing to stand again.

"Why'd you help me?" I gasp out.

"Call it, returning the favour for not killing me when you had the chance. See ya!" She says and cloaks again. The back of my head is now only slightly throbbing and I remember why it hurt. The doctor said that for the first month or so, a biotic couldn't use their powers much without risking a burn out.

I walk towards the front door, when I open it, I see that the guards had been knocked out cold. No doubt, the work of my unlikely saviour. I exit and make the walk to Afterlife. People are giving me even more looks, likely because I look like shit.

When I get to the door, the Elcore takes a long look at me.

"Annoyed: What do you want Human?" He demands and I clench my jaw.

"I have something for Aria." I say behind gritted teeth.

"Calm: Okay, go ahead." He says and I walk through.

The heavy, booming music of the nightclub hurts my head. I hold it and take a deep breath. I walk through crowds of drunk customers and make it to the staircase, as I walk up the stairs, I see the Batarian. I was expecting that he was going to try and stop me.

"Michael, Aria is ready to see you." He says as politely as I've ever heard a Batarian speak.

I walk up past him, and see her sitting on her throne. She spots me and grins.

"Michael, did you get it?" She asks and I nod.

"Yes, I ran into...some mercs but it was nothing I couldn't handle." I decided to omit the fact that I ran into Kasumi. I open my bag and hand her the painting. She looks it over.

"Good work Michael. I'll wire the credits to your account. Now go." She orders and I nod.

I quickly walk out of the club, wanting to get away from the bass. However, before I leave, I see my Omni-Tool flash. I see that I have a message from an unknown sender. I open it and begin to read it.

**Until next time Mr. Phoenix.**

**-Kasumi**

I contemplate getting someone to trace the message, but I doubt there would be much point. Why did she even save me anyway? Until next time? Can't I just have a normal day? I decide to stop asking questions. I quickly exit and I contemplated getting a drink, but I thought it wouldn't help my head.

I know that my shooting wasn't great but I want to learn how to use a sniper rifle effectively, it would help me in future. Over time I will probably become a bit of a tank in close quarters, but you can't always go close. I might as well train with all weapons if I'm honest. I can't have any weaknesses. Then, something dawned on me. I've just completed my first contract as a mercenary.

As I walk out, I see the the Turian who spoke to me before, Serrius. I walk over to him and he spots me.

"Michael, what can I do for you?" He asks politely, and his mandibles flare slightly.

"Hey Serrius, I was wondering if you could help me out with something?" I ask and he shrugs.

"Sure, what is it?" He asks and I rub my hand across the back of my neck.

"You see, I'm not overly proficient with any type of weapon, save for my biotics. I was wondering if you could teach me, as all Turians receive military training." I say and he nods.

"Sure, I have a day off tomorrow. Meet me at the range, It's called Guroks Arms. I'll be there at 3:00 GST. Now I have to go, see you later Michael." He says and I nod.

"Thanks Serrius, take care." I say and he walks off.

I think I need a shower...I begin the short walk back to my apartment building, still questioning the validity of the days events. All I know is I need to improve my biotic stamina and accuracy with my weapons if I am going to get on the crew of Madison Shepard. This would just be the beginning, I may not come out alive or even sane, but I'm ready.

* * *

><p><strong>An: Hey guys! Thank you so much, the support on the last chapter was amazing! If we can hit ten reviews before the upload of chapter 3, that would be amazing. You guys are great. Please review, follow and favourite.<strong>

**See you guys next time!**


	3. Can't I Get a Break!

Last night, I'd finally managed to get some sleep without having a nightmare. That was great, because in the time I've been in this universe, I've been having constant nightmares. I didn't like this for the obvious reason that they're terrifying, but also my lack of sleep could cause me to slip up in combat. I had also realized that I couldn't afford to hesitate to kill, as people wouldn't give me the same courtesy.

Speaking of combat. I have about a year to improve my abilities in battle before Eden Prime. I want to be an asset for Shepard, not a liability.

I'm currently lay down on my sofa, doing research about various people of interest. I'd found that Shepard was born on Mindoir, so I won't be asking her where she's from. Eventually, I look at the clock on my Omni-Tool and see that it's nearly time for me to meet Serrius.

I quickly suit up in my armour and attach my pistol to my hip. I am out of the door in a flash, and headed for my Turian colleague. I decide that I'm sufficiently equipped to take a shortcut through an alleyway. As I exit the building, I turn right and walk down the street until I see an alley cutting into the street I want to go into.

I walk down it and see a human slumped over, I pay no attention to them as they were probably a junkie. That is until I hear a weapon unfurl behind me. I turn and see the woman holding a shotgun to me. Her hair is all over the place and her face is covered in dirt and grime.

"Give me your credits!" She demands and I get ready to fight, or rather, kill. Her voice is shaking, so I know that she's desperate.

I visualise myself creating a biotic barrier, and sure enough a barrier appears in front of me. The woman freaks out and fires a shot. At such close range, I feel the barrier weaken slightly from the shot and I grunt, I feel a warmth at the back of my head from using my biotics. I quickly raise my pistol. Adrenaline takes over my body and I fire, the round goes through her head and she falls to the floor. 'What a waste', I think before turning around and continuing my walk. Maybe I should've given her something, but I just reacted. She may have left, and she would still be alive. Also, that warmth I felt from just putting up a barrier wasn't good, hopefully my endurance will increase over time.

I quickly walk past the bustling crowds and see the sign above a building, it's the range that Serrius talked about. I enter and I see that the establishment looks quite run down. The walls are covered in grime and bullet holes, I can hear the muffled sounds of gunfire through the walls.

"Michael, I'm glad you came." I hear his voice, I turn to my right and I see him approach me.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world, thanks for agreeing to help me." I respond.

"Don't worry about it, shall we?" He says, ushering me to range.

"Yeah, let's go." I say, a grin present on my face.

He takes me into the range, we walk into a lane and I see that he had already selected a few weapons.

"Let's see how you do with a pistol." He says, and I nod. Taking my pistol off of my hip. I smile, I know that I'm a good shot. My shooting in my last life must have paid off. I wince at the thought.

Serrius presses a button and a target drops down about twenty foot away from me. I snap my attention to it, quickly aiming at the target. I fire, and keep firing until my weapon starts to beep, warning me of overheating.

He presses the button again and the target comes forward. I see that I had a very tight grouping on the chest, centred around the heart and left lung. One round went through the head.

"Not bad. In fact, very good. All kill shots. I think you could do that well from from even further. We can test that on another day though. Now, let's try an assault rifle." He orders. He throws me a Lancer assault rifle and points for me to look down range.

Another target drops, this time a little further away. I put the rifle into my shoulder, look down the iron sights and begin to fire in short bursts. Eventually, the weapon threatens to overheat and the target returns once more.

This time the wounds are spread all over the upper, and central chest area, one penetrating the neck. In all honesty, I'm satisfied with that. Serrius hums to himself.

"You're decent with a rifle, but you're also young. The more you practice, the better you'll be. Now just shotguns and sniper rifles?" He asks and I'm about to answer, my Omni-Tool cuts me off.

**Michael-**

**I've just been tipped off that one of my own people are going to betray me. I have his location, I want you to end him and remind him of Omega's one rule. Don't take Serrius with you, I want him here for security. Good luck, don't die.**

**-Aria**

** .maps/**

"Sorry Serrius, I just got a job from Aria and it's urgent. She wants you back too, we'll have to finish this another time." I say sincerely, I look him in the eye and its the first time I see his markings. He has two navy blue stripes running parallel down his face.

"Don't worry about it, there's always another time. Just be careful out there Michael. Aria's urgent jobs, are normally life threatening." He says with concern, I can see his mandibles twitching.

"Don't worry man, I'll be fine." I say.

He nods before grabbing his weapons and walking out. I holster my pistol and also walk out of the door. I check the location again and see that the target is locking up house at an office building in the market district. I turn right upon exiting, and I start running towards the target building, my lungs burn as I close the distance. A few people stare at me because of my urgency.

I take a left through an alleyway and see that the back door of the building only has one guard. I crouch behind a dumpster and assess my situation. I look at the building, it has about four floors and I assume each floor has at least one guard. I would need to watch myself in combat.

I could blow my cover by attacking the guy, and there's no cans or rocks to distract him with. I come out of cover and pull out my pistol, I'll have to wing it. I fire, it takes three shots to drop his weak shields and one through the head to kill him. He was quite close in all fairness. He had only managed to lift his weapon before he was killed. I run over to the body and I pick him up, I nearly drop him because of his weight. Albeit with a struggle, I eventually manage to throw his body into the dumpster, along with his rifle, I then close it.

I approach the door, hoping that any guards inside hadn't heard the gunshots. I open it and walk inside, all of the lights are on. I walk down a narrow corridor, I see a bunch of lockers running along the wall. I want to use my biotics as little as possible, I don't want to come close to frying my amp again. If the damage it causes doesn't kill me, then the enemy will.

I hear voice from the corridor to the right, I panic and quickly throw myself inside one of the lockers. A group of three mercs walk past me, I manage to catch a small amount of their conversation before they leave.

"Jones, stay behind, we're just gonna go and get some lunch. We'll bring it back here." The voice says and the two leave, only 'Jones' is left.

He stands in front of the locker and I see my opportunity. I kick my legs out really hard and the door of the locker smacks him, this leaves him stunned. I take advantage of this by swatting his assault rifle away with my hand, I then place my foot behind his leg and I push him forward, tripping him. I quickly fire a dozen shots into the merc and I can feel the adrenaline crashing through my veins, like a bunch of freight trains. His friends must have gone out through the back. Putting that body in the dumpster was a good call.

I stuff his body into the locker, fighting the urge to be sick. I don't know if it's the fact that I touched a dead man, or the nerves of this job and trying to be stealthy. I shut the door and continue walking down the corridor, not before taking his assault rifle though. I take a right and see a staircase, then an elevator next to it. I don't want to take the elevator because my paranoia tells me that it's trapped.

I take out the assault rifle and put my pistol back on my hip. I keep turning around to look behind me and then looking up the spiral staircase to make sure nobody is lying in wait. Nobody appears and I go past the second floor. However, as I walk past the door to enter the third floor, a mercenary walks through it. He looks at me and I look at him. I launch my arm forward, it glows a deep blue and the Turian is thrown against the wall. I aim at him and pepper him full of rounds, killing him.

I search his body and find three of the remote grenades. I hear shouting, I take the grenades and the detonator and I place one on the underside of the handrail for the stairs and arm it. Looks like the research I did on the extranet was worth it. I run up a flight of stairs and peer over. I see two mercs passing the trap, I press the button on the detonator and the grenade explodes. I hear cries of pain and I continue running up the stairs.

I make it to the top floor and I crash through the door. I see a Krogan standing in front of a terminal, I look to my left and see a glass window that takes up the entire wall. The creature stands and I'm in awe. He must be at least seven foot tall.

"So you're the welp that Aria has sent to kill me, I was expecting more from her to be honest." He says in a gruff tone and I have to admit that I'm feeling very intimidated.

"Little quick to make judgements aren't you, pyjack?" I say, putting on an air of false confidence.

"Hah! You sound confident for someone who's about to be crushed, human." He laughs, and I look around the room for anything that could possibly help me. I remember the grenades that I had picked up.

"I'm going to make you wish the Turians had wiped you out." I say, I always supported the Krogan, but I wanted to get under his skin.

He roars and charges at me, I only have a split second to react. I arm one of the grenades, throw it at him and dive to the side. I put up a barrier with one hand as I detonate the grenade. It explodes spectacularly and I feel my barrier weaken from the blast. I drop my barrier and quickly begin to fire off shots with my pistol. To my horror, he shrugs them off and comes sprinting at me. Despite feeling pain at the back of my head I throw both of my arms forward, in my fatigued state, I only manage to slow the Krogan down with my biotics. He slams into me and I am thrown against the wall. He looks down at me with a grin. I fall back on one desperate plan, I take my last grenade and plant it onto his neck, I jump and kick him in the chest, throwing me backwards. I throw up my barrier one more time and I press the detonator. The explosion drops my barrier completely this time, I drop the detonator and fire shot after shot from my pistol into the space where he once was. The weapon overheats and I drop it, grunting in pain from the burning metal.

The dust settles, I see the Krogan, dead on the floor. I set my head back and I'm staring at the ceiling. How the fuck did I make it out of that alive? He should've killed me. I groan as I feel a sharp pain where my implant is.

I roll to my side and try to stand up, as I do, I feel sharp pain in my chest. I fight my body and manage to climb to my feet. How I wish, I'd taken Serrius with me, or Kasumi. She wouldn't have helped though, it's very unlikely.

I try to fight the pain and I exit the room, slowly making me way down the steps. I see more bodies than I remember, but I don't pay it any mind. Eventually, I get to the ground floor and exit around the back. I lean against the dumpster as soon as I get to it. I begin to pant heavily, pain begins to streak all over my body, causing me to wince. I am broken from my reverie when my Omni-Tool comes to life.

**Michael-**

**Afterlife is under attack, we need you back here. We've lost three guards and there's a lot of them.**

**-Serrius**

Well that's just brilliant. They probably planned to get as many people away from the club as possible. I push off of the dumpster and begin to attempt running back to Afterlife. I make it in about twenty minutes. I see that the entrance has been locked down from the outside, a group of three Batarians are guarding it. I check my left hip, however I have no grenades left. Fuck, I'll have to find another way. I'm in no shape to get into close quarters with them.

I scan the rooftops for snipers, after seeing none, I take cover behind a few crates. I bring out my assault rifle and pick my target, I see that the one in the centre is carrying a sniper rifle. I snap my aim onto him and squeeze the trigger. A barrage of gunfire engulfs the mercenary and he drops to the floor. His comrades spot me and begin to fire on me with their own assault rifles, I quickly get behind the crates again as they try to riddle me with holes.

I replace my rifle with my pistol and move to the other side of the boxes. I open fire and I drop the guy on the left's shields, another shot hits him in the chest. The other tries to get down and apply medi-gel, I quickly move forward and shoot at the last combat able Batarian. I hit him with eight shots and he drops. I finish the incapacitated enemy with a shot to the head. I run through the long tunnel of an entrance and the scene before me is absolute carnage. Overturned tables, shattered glass everywhere, around twenty enemies firing at the elevated position that our survivors and Aria are firing back from. I run right and dive behind one of the overturned tables.

A hail of gunfire hits my cover and I look out from the side of the table, suddenly a barrage of bullets hits my shields and they nearly drop before I get back in cover. I hear a scream and see Aria absolutely ripping through five of the remaining twenty enemies with her biotics, it's as if she's doing a deadly dance. Serrius quickly snipes two. The renewed interest in them allows me to grab my assault rifle, peak out of cover and shred two very nearby enemies. All of a sudden, because of me being a distraction, the tide had turned and there was only eleven enemies left.

Aria lifts three enemies in the air with her biotics, Serrius and I shoot them down like a duo of bird hunters. I peak out of cover and draw on my energy reserves, I manage to lift two, Aria then throws a warp which detonated and kills them both. I'm glad to know that my amp had cooled down enough to do that. It's weird how effective a distraction can be.

Serrius takes another down with his sniper rifle and that leaves only five more mercenaries for us to take down, I'm glad that the battle is nearly over because I feel like I'm dying from exhaustion.

Aria launches a shock wave which throws the last five out of cover and we all raise our weapons. I take down two, Serrius kills one with a headshot and Aria destroys the final two with a biotic explosion. Then, silence falls on the battleground.

Aria walks over to me, she looks supremely pissed off, her face is in a clear frown.

"Did you kill him?" She snarls and I nod.

"Yeah, the Krogan is dead. Gave one hell of a fight though, to be fair." I say and she smiles at me, what shocks me most is that it isn't a cold smile, but it's full of warmth.

"Good. Go home and rest, you've earned a week off." She says and my jaw hits the floor, she walks away and Serrius walks over.

"How you feeling?" He asks and I grunt, rolling my shoulder.

"Like I got hit by a train, are you wounded?" I ask and he shakes his head.

"Nope, now go home. You're no good if that amp fries. I'll see you around." He says and pats my shoulder. "Good work today." He finishes.

"Thanks." I say and walk out of the nightclub.

I slowly walk to my apartment, once I get in, I just want to collapse onto my bed. I go to walk into the bedroom, however I hear a voice.

"Not going to welcome your guest? How rude Mr. Phoenix." The voice says, then a woman appears on my sofa. It's Kasumi.

"Kasumi! How did you find my address, how did you get in and why are you here?" I ask, bewildered by my intruder.

"Finding you and getting in wasn't hard, comes with the territory. As to why I'm here...I'm here for you Mr. Phoenix." She says and I shake my head.

"At least take me to dinner first. Also, just call me Michael." I say, falling back on my defence mechanism of sarcasm.

"Ooh, feisty bit of sarcasm, I like that. I need you to help me with something. However, you look terrible. Sleep first and we'll talk about it tomorrow." She says and I begin to wonder if it's about her loyalty mission.

"Well then you're going to love me. Okay, are you gonna swing by tomorrow?" I ask and she laughs.

"Nope, I'm stealing your sofa, it's very comfy!" She says happily and I groan.

"Fine, goodnight Kasumi." I say with audible fatigue.

"Night Michael." She says warmly.

I go into my room and take off my armour, I don't bother to shower, I just crash into bed. Why the he'll is one of my favourite characters here in my apartment, trying to recruit me for something. No, she's not a character any more, she's real now, just like this universe. I breath out heavily and lie face down. Why am I here? I ask myself before I drift off.

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><p><strong>An: Hey guys, thanks for reading. The response on the first two chapters was amazing. If we could hit 18-20 reviews before chapter four that would be mind blowing. Also I am going to respond to reviews. Finally, there is a poll on our profile that could heavily change the direction of the story, so please leave your thoughts.<strong>

**Greavy: Michael Phoenix might be a little overpowered and seem a tad Mary sue at the moment, but soon you will see that this will be balanced by how things have affected him. Put it this way, he isn't an emotionless robot.**

**Tacticus Shadowrunner: Thank you for your continued support, it means a lot. The relationship between Michael and Aria will be expanded upon as more chapters are written. It could make for a weird reunion in ME.**

**Masterdude94: As always, your reviews are a driving force behind our writing and we are grateful for them. Michael and Kasumi's relationship will be a very important factor in the writing of this story.**

**Cainchaos: Thank you, like you said he won't be a biotic God at the start. For the majority of the start he will rely on others and his luck to survive. Later on he will become more competent in battle.**

**General-Joseph-Dickson: As always, thank you for your review and support. Then teaming up is definitely something we are planning to do.**

**Morjackdan: Thank you for your review, your support means a lot to us. Michael should be sufficiently equipped for the fight against Saren when the time comes.**


	4. Self-Reflection

I wake up with a groan, my eyes crack open slowly and I lean forward. What the hell did I drink last night? Oh yeah, a Krogan tried to kill me and I was involved a massive firefight. I'm hoping that this isn't normality for Omega; of course, it probably is. I swing my body to the left and drop out of bed. I then grab a towel and go to the bathroom.

I take my shirt off, because my abdominal area feels tender. I look in the mirror and I get several shocks. Firstly, I have a huge bruise that is every colour imaginable on my abdomen; probably from the Krogan charging me. Secondly, my arms and chest are quite a bit bigger, probably from running around with all my gear. Lastly, my eyes look a more deep blue than before, almost as if they're glowing slightly.

I have a quick shower and get dressed into my casual clothes. I walk into the lounge area and as expected, Kasumi is there. I see that she's reading a paper book.

"I was wondering when you'd get up, you've been dead to the world Michael." She says with a giggle.

"Sorry for keeping you waiting, man's got to get his sleep." I say, smiling.

"Yeah, you need your beauty sleep." She taunts with a wink and I laugh.

"That was plain rude." I deadpan, before bursting into laughter.

"Good to know you have a nice sense of humour." She says and I sit down next to her.

"What do you need me for then?" I ask, curiosity taking over.

"A man called Donovan Hock has taken something of mine. I want to get it back, that's why I need you." She explains and I shake my head.

"How do you know you can trust me? I could just shoot you in the back." I ask and she laughs.

"If you were like that, you would've killed me when we first met." She deduces and I nod.

"You have a point, where do I come in?" I ask and drums her fingers on the coffee table.

"I need you to appear as a guest at one of his parties and help me infiltrate his vault." She says. Okay then, so it is her loyalty mission.

"Okay, I'm in. When will this happen?" I ask and she seems shocked.

"Just like that? You know he is a very dangerous man?" She says with concern and I shake my head.

"Just like that. My line of work isn't exactly what I'd call safe Kasumi." I say with a smile.

"Thank you Michael. I appreciate this." She says and I scoff.

"It's nothing, honestly. I know the type of man that Hock is, I'd be doing the galaxy a favour." I say and she nods.

"And me. That's for sure." She mutters darkly, which is rare for her.

I turn to the vid screen and see that the Citadel news is on.

_"In recent news, C-Sec have reported that the technologically advanced vigilante group called the Agency has been wiped out by an unnamed paramilitary organization. A lot of the advanced technologies, genetic and cybernetic implant research has been reported stolen." _

Huh, the Agency. Sucks for them I guess.

_"The news story of the day, Private Detective Seamus O'Hanlon has recently been commended for his actions in taking down the corrupt Spectre, Shia T'Oni. Reportedly, he has claimed that he does not need to be thanked, however he has told a Mr. Brady and Mr. Phoenix that he hopes they're okay." _

_"That is all for Citadel News."_

Seamus...it has to be him. The only reason he would mention a Brady and Phoenix in an interview would be because he needs to find us, or let us know he was okay. Smart move my friend.

"So, Michael, why are you on Omega when you could easily have done something else?" Kasumi asks, snapping my attention back to her. I need to think of something quickly.

"I came here, because I thought I could make a difference. That dream slipped away when I found out that I'm just another mercenary on this damn rock." I say with regret and she stays quiet for a second.

"So what's your story?" She asks with a sad undertone.

"I was born on Earth, in a city called Newcastle. I moved to the United North American States when I was young. When I was seventeen, my parents died. Omega was a way that I thought I could make money and make a difference, I was wrong." I explain, telling a half lie.

"I'm sorry Michael, that's a lot to go through." She says and I shrug. Holding back tears at the thought that my parents don't even exist here, they might as well be dead.

"It's fine. What's your story?" I ask, the words 'It's fine' coming out as cold and hollow.

"Not much I can say really. I was born in Japan on Earth, I've been stealing things since I was young, I would always go to my grandma's, she makes the best ramen. Time just went by, I met someone, lost them and now we're sat here." She says, voice shaking and I sigh.

"Kasumi, I've got your back on this. We will find what you're looking for, I may even kill Hock."'I say and she smiles this time. She stands up and walks to the door.

"Michael, thank you. This means a lot to me." She nearly whispers. She cloaks and leaves the room.

I lean back and run my hand through my hair, I don't have a plan for today. I heard about a gym that opened nearby, I also heard that the majority race that goes there are Batarians, going there may not be a wise move. I could always go to Afterlife and get absolutely wasted.

I decide to do so, I quickly rush to my room and gear up in my armour, strapping my pistol to my hip. I don't trust the 'fine' people of Omega at all, and I don't feel like dying. Dan, Seamus and I would always chill out at my place and crack open a few drinks.

I exit my apartment, by now I was used to the constant smell of piss and dying people. I walk through the crowds of people and bypass the line that is forming in front of the club; perks of being an employee I guess.

I head to the bar and make sure to avoid any Batarian bartenders, I don't want to get poisoned. I approach the Salarian at the bar, but something I hear from a human woman catches my attention.

"That Dan Brady, he's killed so many of our guys. He was a slippery bastard." The lady barks with anger. Her Latino colleague laughs.

"Yeah, but he killed that bastard Calderone. We have no leads on where he could possibly be, there's no point trying to find him." He says with a mix of happiness and defeat.

Looks like Dan's been busy. He's somewhere on this rock, although I doubt I'd be able to find him. How did he get mixed up with this band of mercs. As they leave, I notice that their logo on their armour is a black handprint.

The bartender brings me some Budweiser, I'm surprised that it's still around this far into the future. My father would always drink it when the games were on, that's how I first got a taste for it.

I bring the bottle to my lips and take a sip of the alcoholic beverage. I look around and see women of various species lashing out aggressively in some form of exotic dance. I can't tell if I find it appealing or amusing. I'm surprised Aria managed to clean this place up so quickly. I kinda wish Kasumi or Serrius were here, drinking alone isn't too fun.

I don't want to be employed by Aria forever, but there are not many people I can work for without any identification. I could pay somebody to forge it, but I doubt it would fool C-Sec or the Alliance. I'm stuck with Aria for now, unless I want to work for Cerberus. That's a no.

Maybe I should try and find Seamus. I chug back my bottle and place a credit chit down on the table. I walk out of the club, I am walking back to my apartment. Suddenly, I feel myself get grabbed and slammed against the wall. I'm out of the public eye. I am about to throw my assailant off with my biotics, but then I see him takes his helmet off. His armour is jet black. The helmet drops to the floor. I see his chocolate brown eyes and black hair.

"Dan..." I whisper.

"In the flesh Mike." He responds. A slightly happy tone in his voice.

I embrace him in a huge bear hug that lasts for ten seconds.

"Those mercs, they said you were messing with them." I say and he shakes his head.

"Not here. We'll talk about it at your place." He says.

I nod and lead him to the building, I can't believe he's here, and alive. They must have gotten pulled in after me. Still, knowing my best friends are here, and still alive is a huge comfort. I knew Seamus was alive, but Dan could have been anywhere.

We enter my apartment and he whistles.

"Not a bad place you got here, I've been camping out in abandoned factories for the last two weeks." He says and I chuckle darkly.

"Perks of working for the Queenpin of Omega, take a seat, we have some catching up to do." I say with a smile, he obliges, taking a seat on my sofa.

"I'll say, so how's life treating you now?" He asks and I sigh.

"It's weird, I'm a biotic. The artefact must have pumped me with a fuck load of Element Zero. I've only barely survived my first instances of combat and that was down to luck. The doctors say that in about three days my biotic amp will be ready for prolonged use and I won't burn out, gives me more chance of survival. They also said that I was likely to become a level 5 or 6 biotic, the artefact must have done something to my body to allow me to have that much Element Zero. How about you?" I explain, realizing that I could easily have died by now.

"Well, as you know, those Mercs are after me. They're called the Black Hand, they've been hunting me because I thwarted one of their plans to overthrow Aria. However, they recently destroyed a group called the Agency and took their research. They've been augmenting themselves with cybernetic and genetic modifications. It's been harder to fight them. Now they're looking for me. These guys are dangerous, one of their operatives wiped out an entire Cerberus strike force by herself." He explains and I'm pretty sure my jaw hit the ground.

"Wow. I've got your back on this Dan, just like you've always had mine. Remember when we started High School and you helped me fight off those guys who tried to take my lunch money?" I ask and he laughs.

"Yeah, I remember, you started going to the gym religiously after that incident. In all fairness, you went from the slimmest guy I knew to a pretty strong guy." He says mockingly and I frown.

"Hey, it worked out! Anyway, what do you need me to do?" I ask and he shakes his head.

"Nothing, I don't want you getting involved in this. With your amp the way it is and their upgrades, they will kill you. This is my problem." He demands and I tilt my head to the side.

"Dan, don't do this alone. I promise you that I can help." I plead to my friend, he simply shakes his head.

"No Michael, you can't." He says, he then stands up and walks to the door. "Goodbye." He finishes and walks out of the door.

I am distraught, I march over to the wall and shout. I throw my fist at the wall and expect to feel pain, however the wall crumbles under the pressure of my fist. I see that my hand is glowing blue and there is a huge dent in the wall.

I open my Omni-Tool and take to the extranet, wanting to do some research about biotics, I find an encyclopedia of sorts and begin to research certain combat styles and ways to train in them. After the incident with the wall, I was mainly curious about the use of biotics in close quarters combat.

After half an hour of searching, I find a combat style that I would like to train in. Zerzatio, which is a Drell biotic Martial Art. A lot of the art is using biotics to augment punches and kicks, but it also mentions using a Pull to drag enemies out of a defensive stance before striking. I pull up a training regime, from what I had read, learning how to make punches and kicks stronger with biotics is difficult, and if done wrong can harm the user. If I mastered this art, I could help Dan take on the Black Hand, and make myself more useful in combat.

I decide that I will take two hours out of my night every day to practice. The thought of making myself skilled in this actually excites me. I am then reminded of Thane Krios, no matter what, he will die. That's not a very pleasant thought, in all honesty.

Due to my last extranet search, my mind somehow wanders to sport. I wonder if football is still a widely played sport in the galaxy. Upon more reading, I find that my team, Newcastle United no longer exists. Instead, every planet has a team and they play in the Galactic league pyramid. With the top league being the Galatic All-Stars League. Earth, Thessia, Palaven and surprisingly The Citadel have a team in that league, although I shouldn't be surprised. Also, there is the Galactic cup where each species play in a knockout tournament, like the World Cup. The last winners were the Turians, the Humans won the cup before that.

Interesting, some fragments of my old life are still around. I stand up and begin to think. What could I possibly do now now, I mean, even if I join Shepard, I'm just one guy. One guy can't change the galaxy. I'm no hero, I haven't got the resources of the Illusive Man, I'm not a negotiator like Shepard.

I'm an anomaly. Anger begins to run through my veins as I realise that I may not be able to do anything, doubt and fear begins to creep in. I headbutt the wall and shout again. If I want to do something worthwhile and change the events that will come, I need to go solo, work for myself. I will need contacts, to train myself. I will also need to cut contacts on Omega. Not yet, after I help Kasumi. I will finally need an alias...I look to video games for inspiration, suddenly a thought comes to mind. Devil May Cry. Dante.

I walk away from the wall and open the training programme, time to go to work. I chuckle darkly.

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><p><strong>An: Hey guys thanks for reading, their we have it. No combat in this chapter because I wanted to slow the down the story a bit and show that life isn't all about blowing shit up. Michael has renewed resolve and will recreate himself as Dante. If we could get to 25 reviews by chapter 5, that would be amazing thanks guys, review, favourite and I'll see you next time.<strong>

**A hint guys, Michael will conceal his face to preserve his identity as Dante. Finally, he will soon have a run in with the Black Hand.**

**On another note, the poll is underway and Kasumi has a small lead.**

**Masterdude94: Thanks for reviewing, Michael barely got away with fighting the Krogan. He mainly went with Kasumi because he was way too tired to go against it.**

**Tacticus Shadowrunner: Thanks for reviewing, this chapter is for you man. More character development and less intense.**

**Greavy: Thank you for your review, I will definitely try to upload on a schedule. More OC's are coming soon trust me.**

**XRaiderV1: Thank you for your review, the positive feedback is appreciated****.**

**Morjackdan: Thank you for your review, that's something we're looking forward to writing in, although it may involve Dante.**

**General-Joseph-Dickson: Thank you for your review, that's the plan.**


	5. Weaker than You Think

It'd been two weeks since I'd started my training in Zerzatio, and it was going quite well. I still struggle to augment my punches and kicks, however I had found a temporary way around it. I'd custom ordered two pistols. Ebony, a black Karpov Pistol and Ivory, a matching white pistol. They had become my signature weapons and a compliment to my biotics. I had modded them with phasic rounds, which at point black range would completely bypass a target's shields and pierce the armour. My main tactic was to get the drop on my enemies, use a biotic pull to stop them aiming their weapon at me and then put a bullet in their head.

The plan had worked quite well so far, I had also bought a helmet and armour. The armour was a jet black set with a red stripe running up the left side, stopping at the shoulder. The helmet was the death mask. Small mercenary groups are starting to talk and be wary of me and the name Dante. The bigger ones haven't heard of me. I was still Michael Phoenix, my mind hadn't changed in any way, I would want Kasumi to still refer to me as Michael. I mean the name is cool and all, but I still want to be human, not just some killing machine without a damn face.

I am standing behind a small group of crates and listening in on a conversation. I had been trying to track down a Black Hand operation for a week. They normally manipulate small time mercs to do the work for them. One Captain always oversees the operation. This is the first one I've seen up close. I'm in an old factory, they're selling illegal weapon mods to people all over the galaxy and nobody can stop them.

I peak out of cover and see that one enemy is standing alone. Two are playing cards in the corner. And another three are drinking, amateurs. Either Ivory or Ebony would be sufficient to take them down. I approach the only one who is actually only alert. I hate killing people who don't have a chance to fight back, but it has to be done.

I slip Ebony out from my right hip and in one motion, I press it to the female merc's head and pull the trigger. The weapon bucks a tiny bit in my hand and she falls face first to the ground. I then pull out Ivory, I quickly switch my aim to the two playing cards. The one furthest to my left tries to pick up his rifle, he doesn't get the chance as he is cut down by a flurry of rounds from my handguns. The drunken ones tried to retaliate, however I glow a deep blue and throw a shock wave in their direction and they slam into the wall. The remaining sober man fires at me, my shields begin to taken a hit. I holster Ebony and barely manage to get a barrier up before my shields are penetrated. I run at him, realizing that with no cover, I had no other option. At the last second, I drop my barrier and use a pull to stop him aiming his weapon at me. He throws a sloppy punch, I catch his hand and do a frontal kick to push him into the wall. I then finish him with a few pistol shots.

The remaining three are struggling to get to their feet when I hear three sniper rifle shots, they all stop struggling after that. I turn around and see a woman clad in blood red armour, a Black Hand emblazoned on her chest. She has jet black hair and blood red eyes. Is she wearing contact lenses?

"You're clearly not Brady, he's not a biotic. Can I place a name before I kill you?" She asks, a twisted smirk on her face. Her voice is very strong, powerful.

"They call me Dante. It's not a name you'll live long enough to remember." I spit back with confidence.

"They should give you a medal for arrogance." She sighs, I smirk.

"I'll leave you looking like a car crash." I chuckle.

"My, my, such fire. Shame I have to put it out." She retorts and I laugh.

"I've wanted to get a crack at you." I mutter coldly.

"Sorry, I'm taken. It's not wise to go against us Dante." She says with sarcasm.

"A bit of rebellion's good for development." I say quickly.

"Then let's dance." She laughs.

She throws a warp and I immediately consider her as a more dangerous enemy, I throw my own warp and they collide, causing a huge biotic explosion. I use it as a distraction and run through the dust, I launch a shock wave at her and she hits the wall. Almost immediately, she hits right back at me with one of her own and I barely avoid it by throwing myself to the right. I get up quickly and fire off shots at her with Ivory , they bounce off of her barrier and she laughs. This irritates me, I feel my spine tingle as I gather energy. I unleash it in rage and a huge warp flies towards her, she dives behind some crates and the warp explodes on the wall. The biotic energy was clearly unstable, as it leaves a huge crater.

I close the distance and throw a punch but she grabs my hand, I jump and throw my body weight to the right, managing to kick her and release my hand. She catches up to me and her leg glows blue, she throws a roundhouse kick and it impacts my chest, I fly into the nearby wall and cough as I feel the air being forced out of my lungs. I look up and I see that she had disappeared.

She is on top of the crates and aiming her sniper rifle at me, I put up a barrier just as a shot rings out, it drops the barrier and I take a shot with Ivory before she gets another one off, it hits her rifle and causes it to spark. She yells in annoyance.

"You're very powerful Dante, but you lack finesse! That's the difference between us!" She shouts and I'm confused.

She flares her biotics and I prepare for a shock wave or warp, however I feel my leg getting lighter. Suddenly, it swings up, I fall back and I am facing the ceiling. She had used her biotics to knock me onto my ass. I didn't even know a technique like that existed. I am being held down by her power, she is really strong.

She struts over, hips swaying and pulls out a knife. If I wasn't in a deadly situation, I would make a remark about her good figure. I struggle to break free, I hadn't researched how to get out of a biotic pin manoeuvre, funnily enough. She gives a sadistic smirk and I grunt.

"You lose, Dante." She says and a gunshot rings out. I'm not dead.

More ring out, and she is being attacked by somebody with an assault rifle, she runs away and makes it out of the door before they can catch up. My rescuer runs over to me, I should have known.

"Dan, is that you?" I ask, between grunts of pain.

"Michael, dammit! I told you not to come here! Never mind that now, let's get you out of here." He says, he then offers his hand, I accept it and he hauls me up.

"Who the hell was that woman?" I gasp out.

"Captain Eva Smith, crazy woman. One of the Black Hand's most skilled and dangerous soldiers. Ex-N7, also Cerberus Defector." He lists off as if he had known her his whole life.

"That bad huh?" I ask and he nods.

"Cerberus stopped sending death squads after her, that was only when they were always turning up dead." He says with grim admiration, he clearly respected her.

"What are you doing here?" I ask and he drops his head.

"I was tracking a Black Hand operation and heard Smith was here, I was ready to strike." He explains.

"Fuck, what now?" I ask. Realizing what I had gotten into.

"You're now a target for them, the only way to survive is to fight." We hear shouting a second after he speaks. "Speaking of fighting, it'll be interesting to see how you fare." He says, not long after this, a squad, seven strong bursts into the room.

I pull out Ebony and Ivory, I open fire on the closest enemy, his shields quickly drop and he goes down. Dan follows up the assault by spraying another of them with his assault rifle.

They are still grouped together, this gives me a good chance. I gather energy, and launch a powerful shock wave at the enemies. It hits and they are all thrown to the ground. If I could learn biotic charge, and how to augment my strikes, I might be able to finish a squad like this, alone, and quickly. Dan throws down a grenade while they are unable to move, it explodes and they all get ripped to pieces by the explosion.

"What was that?" I ask, he knows what I am thinking and responds.

"Not a Black Hand death squad, too incompetent. Hired guns, probably my sent as a reaction force." He explains and I nod.

"What now?" I ask and he thinks for a moment.

"Get out of the district and get home. This place isn't safe, by Omega's standards, that says something." He half-orders.

"What about you?" I ask and he laughs at me.

"I have some hunting to do, good work just now, I can see why Aria hired you." He says before walking out.

I watch him for a moment, he had changed so quickly. I walk out about a minute later, I had spent the minute taking credit chits off of the people who had tried to kill me. I begin walking back to my apartment, I then realise the date. It is June 7th 2182. I have a limited amount of time before Eden Prime. I contemplate the idea of an extended week off at the Citadel however, I quickly crush these ideas.

It takes me about fifteen minutes to get back into Aria's district, I breath a sigh of relief upon doing so. I quickly make my way to my apartment. Upon entry I take off my helmet and place my head on the wall. My breathing becomes laboured and my heart rate increases. I swallow but my mouth is like cotton, I slump against the wall. I struggle, but I manage to stand. Steadily, I return to normal. Eva, she would have ended me.

"Rough day?" A voice says and I see Kasumi, but not before I see that I had raised Ivory at her upon being startled. I slowly lower my weapon and put it on the countertop.

"You have no idea, taking on an enemy that could probably decimate an Alliance Spec Ops team tends to be bad for your health." I say sardonically.

"Seems like it. Michael, does anyone ever tell you how...ancient, your music taste is?" She asks and I furrow my brow, then realizing the time I'm in. Surely Nirvana, Foo Fighters and bands like that are now considered ancient.

"Yeah, as a matter of fact. Anyway, what are you doing here?" I ask, wanting to know why the master thief had broken into my apartment, again!

"I need your help now. I've heard from one of my contacts that Hock is close to decoding the item I need. We need to retrieve it now." She says and I am stunned. He is already close? What the hell?

"Alright, what's the plan?" I ask and she seems nervous.

"I've picked you a suit, you will be attending the party under the name Nero Veratti. I will smuggle some items into the party, one we have what we need to enter the vault, you will arm yourself. We will then steal the item and make our grand escape." She explains and I shake my head.

"No plan survives contact with the enemy. Besides, why would he invite a no-name Italian to his party?" I ask, even though I know the answer.

"I got you in an article of Badass Weekly, you took down an entire Mercenary group with only your biotics and a fork." She says with a laugh and I smirk. The shit people will believe these days, ridiculous.

"Alright, when do we leave?" I ask and she clocks her head to the side.

"Now, I've arranged for people to get us out. One more thing Michael." She says and I nod, telling her to say it. "If I find out you've crossed me somehow, I won't hesitate." She mutters darkly and I nod.

"Likewise." I respond, I manage to disguise my surprise. I thought she at least knew I wasn't going to betray her, apparently not though.

"Okay then, let's go." She says and I nod. I grab Ivory from the counter, and I place my helmet on my head, locking the door as I leave. Mr. Hock, time to dance with the devil.

* * *

><p><span><strong>Seamus O'Hanlon<strong>

**Citadel**

I walk into the room that was the crime scene, several C-Sec Officers are watching the scene. I walk into the bedroom and see a dead human male, middle aged, bullet through his head, gun in his right hand. Suddenly, a C-Sec detective approaches me. I had been given all the information I could want on the victim, Orlando Mason.

"O'Hanlon, this was a suicide, what are you doing here?" He asks, my mind wanders, I walk into the living room again and take in several images.

"This was a murder." I deadpan.

"Don't be an idiot, he was holding the gun." The detective retorts.

"No, you're the idiot. Look. Coffee table on the left hand side, writing on his notepad is smudged in a certain way, knife in his butter, butter is on the right side of the knife and not the left. The weapon was found in his right hand but from all of this we can only assume that Mr. Mason was left handed. I don't know any sane man that would butter his toast with his right hand when he is left handed. You saw a convenient way to make this an easier case for yourself and palmed it off as a suicide, get out, you're making me feel stupid just being in your presence." I say, my massive rant leaves the detective stunned. He then walks away, looking like he wants to punch me. I had finished the rant in about fifteen seconds.

I crack my knuckles and walk back into the bedroom. I examine the weapon and quickly find the brand. Kessler, civilian grade. This weapon would not leave that kind of wound, the hole in his head is too large. These weapons are designed for defence and incapacitating, not killing. His death was the work of a higher grade weapon. Either a criminal, or a person that can legally carry around Police or Military grade weaponry. Couldn't be a criminal, because Mr. Mason has no past dealings with criminals, based on his account details and records, no debts, nothing.

From this, my range of suspects isn't especially small. I should probably look through his emails, see what has been going on in his life.

I access his terminal and put in the code I was given for his account by Pallen. I sift through the messages and quickly find something, oh you naughty man. He was having an affair with the wife of a C-Sec officer. Obviously, she couldn't handle the officer being away constantly and looked for comfort elsewhere, Mr. Mason, having never been in a relationship was only too happy to oblige. By the looks of things, the Officer found out and was certainly angry. I should go find out the name of the husband, the database will have the wife, I know her name, and from their I can find the husbands name. The game is on!

I walk past several stunned officers, staring at me in awe. All in a day's work.

* * *

><p><strong>An: Hey guys thanks for reading. I decided to show you guys what Seamus was up to, as you already know what Michael and Dan are up too. The poll Michael's romance option will be closed by chapter ten. Get voting! If we could hit 32 reviews that would great, you guys have been smashing every review target. We have also reached 20 favourites and 1000 views! You guys are the best readers!<strong>

**Masterdude94: Thanks for another review man, emails are a bitch haha! Yeah, the story is going to delve into some history for sure.**

**Tacticus Shadowrunner:Thank you for your review, and telling me I need to slow it down. Kashmir obviously isn't fully trusting of our protagonist as we have seen. Dante is kind of a coming of age thing, but also may show his change over time. In stressful situations some people cry, some people smash things, Michael is the latter.**

**Fullbreaker: Thanks man.**

**General-Joseph-Dickson: In this universe the Agency might not be as powerful, for certain reasons however, it wasn't without a fight. The numbers of the Black Hand are low for a reason.**

**The hidden revan: Thanks for the review, that's where we normally get our inspiration. **


	6. Party Crashers and a Detective

**Seamus O'Hanlon**

I walk out of the door and see a Turian C-Sec officer holding the perimeter, my mind soon recognizes him as none other than the badass, Garrus Vakarian. He looks at me and then turns to me.

"What you did in there, that was good. Who are you?" He asks. I decide to quote a 'Classic'.

"I'm a consulting detective. The only one of my kind." I say and he looks at me suspiciously.

"What do you mean, consulting detective?" He asks, mandibles flaring and sub-harmonics audible.

"When C-Sec are out of their depth, which unfortunately is always, they consult me. I help them figure out the case." I say calmly and he pauses.

"C-Sec doesn't consult amateurs." He responds, sounding slightly angered.

"You're right." I say with a smile. "See you later Officer Vakarian." I begin to walk away.

Once I exit the building, I hail a taxi. Soon enough the driver sets down in front of me. I didn't have time to wait for the rapid transit. I get in the cab and the Salarian looks at me.

"Destination?" He asks quickly.

"C-Sec academy." I say, he nods and begins the drive to my destination.

"Have you been watching the news lately?" The driver asks.

"No, what's been going on?" I ask, my Irish accent slipping in slightly.

"Word is, a Human was found dead in his home, apparently a suicide." I instantaneously know that he is on about my case, so I decide to feign ignorance.

"No, I hadn't heard about that." I say, he seems shocked.

"It's on every news network, apparently some amateur detective has been recruited." He replys and I grit my teeth.

"How very interesting." I say, and I realize that we have arrived.

I take a credit chit out of my jacket and toss it to the driver. I hop out without saying a word. I look up, the Citadel is beautiful at first but after a while it gets dull, and boring. I walk into the academy and take a left, eventually entering the Office of a desk worker, who can access the C-Sec database and get me the information I need.

The worker is a Human woman who looks like she's in her mid-twenties, judging by complexion, hair colour and facial features. She looks up as I walk over to her.

"Who are you?" She asks, I sigh. Pallen hadn't told them about me.

"Seamus O'Hanlon, Consulting Detective." I say, my voice devoid of any emotion.

"I need information on the husband of Melissa Anders Brayvic. Name, species and a address." I demand and the woman starts typing.

"Looks like Pallen asked you to take part in an investigation. This will only take a moment." She says politely, still tapping away at her terminal. "There. The name is Delarnius Provectus, Turian. Address is 225G, Delarvo street, Presidium." She finishes.

"Thank you." I respond quickly, giving her a quick nod, I begin to type in the address for directions on my Omni-Tool. Great, it's only three streets away from here. I check that my weapon is still on my hip, I find that my Spectre Grade pistol from my last case is still there.

I load up an audio recorder so that I can get a confession, just in case I have to kill the suspect. I then begin running, the guy could bolt if he knows I'm coming. After a while, I come to the building, a ground floor apartment. I quickly hack the door and enter, weapon raised and all sound being recorded.

"Come to find me have you?" A flanged voice calls out. I quickly enter the dirty living room and see my Turian suspect. I point my weapon at him, staying on my guard.

"Delarnius Provectus, why did you murder Orlando Mason?" I ask calmly. He laughs and looks me in the eyes. He has to look down, he is at least seven foot tall, bare faced though.

"Oh, that pathetic bastard. You see, he had sex with my wife, so when a group called me and told me they wanted him killed, I had to say yes. Not that you'll get to use this as evidence, you'll be dead." He rants, he pulls out a handgun. My mind goes into overdrive.

I load up an overload and fire it at him, his lack of armour or shields means that it has the effect of a stun gun. He drops to the floor, shaking violently. I walk over and kick away his weapon, making sure he doesn't pull a fast one. Eventually, he stood shaking and I am pointing my weapon at him.

"Who hired you to kill him?" I ask and he laughs, he fucking laughs, the arrogant bastard.

"What makes you think I would tell you C-Sec?" He chuckles and I smirk darkly. I stamp on his arm, then put a bullet in it. He screams and I shut of the recording.

"I'm not C-Sec, I can do things outside of the things an Officer can do, now talk!" I shout and he starts to cave a little bit.

"A group based on Omega, they call themselves the Black Hand. Told me that Mason was going to sell information to two people, called Dante and Daniel Brady." My brain clicks after this and I know who I would need to speak to, so I could find my friends.

I click a few buttons on my Omni-Tool and call Pallen. The line rings for a couple of seconds before he answers, I still have my weapon aimed at the incapacitated Turian.

"What is it detective?" He asks and I smirk.

"I have the murderer in the case of Orlando Mason. My location is 225G Delarvo street, Presidium. If you could get a squad down here, I'd appreciate it." I say and I could nearly hear his smile. For someone who doesn't like Humans, he seems to respect my abilities. He pauses.

"Good work. There's a squad with a vehicle ready to pick him up, they're on the way now." He remarks, and I smile. Thankfully this guy had some information, I'm pretty sure that it's the Dan I'm looking for.

I stand in silence, pointing my weapon at him and making sure that he wouldn't escape. After a while, I hear sirens, they begin to get closer, then they stop. I hear voices and in a few seconds, the room is swarmed by C-Sec Officers. They point their weapons at me and my 'friend', I slowly pull out my badge, they see it and lower their weapons.

"Seamus O'Hanlon, Consulting Detective. I've secured the suspect, I've also sent evidence of his involvement in the murder to your boss. Good day gentlemen." I say quickly, wanting to get out of the situation quickly so that I can think over my next move. I just exit the room before I hear someone call me.

"Detective!" I see that it's Garrus, again. He looks at me, I tilt my head in questioning and he continues. "I don't know how you did this, I've never seen anything like it." He says; if it was possible for a Turian to look stunned, I think this would be it.

"It's a part of my job Vakarian, I get bored if a week goes by with nothing happening. I look forward to working with you again, good afternoon." I finish, beginning to walk as I end the conversation.

I walk outside and breath in heavily; this could be bad. This group called the Black Hand managed to destroy the Agency, who have evaded destruction by C-Sec for fifteen years; now it's possible that Dan has gotten himself on their bad side. Will their ever be a day where I don't pick up the pieces of a situation that he's made worse, it's high school all over again.

I need something to eat, this is going to drive me crazy.

* * *

><p><span><strong>Michael Phoenix<strong>

**Bekenstein**

I pull at the cuffs of the suit I am wearing, to say it was uncomfortable would be a massive understatement. Kasumi seemed to think it would make me blend in more; as much as an extremely young biotic mercenary can in a party full of drug lords and Mercenary group owners. I wasn't liking my odds. Funnily enough, I don't think I'm going to fit in well with the rich, ruthless killers that inhabit this party, Kasumi keeps telling me otherwise.

"Do you really think this is going to work?" I ask, concern lacing my tone.

"I don't know yet, there's only one way to find out." She says with an evil grin; I groan at this.

"This is not filling me with confidence." I mutter

"You'll be fine, besides Mr. Hawk, you are known as a very dangerous man in the Terminus Systems." She mutters, giving me a sly wink. I fail to suppress a chuckle.

"Okay, what's my role?" I say and her eyes light up, probably eager to show off her skills at fraud.

"You are David Hawk, lethal bounty hunter. Known for taking out entire compounds on your own, and looking good while doing it." She says and I look at her incredulously. "What? Come on, you'll be a hit with the mercenaries and the ladies." She responds, I just sigh and plant my head against the wall of the shuttle.

"God give me strength." I whisper. This thief was going to get me killed.

"Do you want me to run the plan by you, maybe then you won't think you're about to die." She mocks, I give her a death glare, but she shrugs it off. "Your weapons and armour are stored inside a golden statue of Spectre Saren Arterius, they won't be detected. Then, we enter and assess the security systems, by that I mean you can go and socialize while I do the technical work. Once we can bypass his security, we enter the vault, get the item and leave. Sound good?" She asks and I look at her grimly.

"No turning back now." I say, my biotics flaring slightly.

"Nope, but hey, it's a lot more fun than retrieving stuff for Aria right?" She teases and I shoot her a glare.

"I sure hope so, I'm not dying in this crappy three star excuse for a mansion." I say, half sarcastic, half serious.

"Better not slip up then, like you did in the warehouse." She comments and I turn on my heel.

"Come on Kasi, I disarmed you and could have killed you. The only reason I nearly died was because my new amp overheated." I explain and she shrugs, still smiling.

"A rookie mistake." She teases, suddenly the shuttle lands and she motions with her hand. "Come on, we've got an item to retrieve." She says as the shuttle door opens. I nod and we exit, I see the statue being brought in front of a man with black armour, it looks like he's running a scan.

We walk over to him and he holds out his free hand ahead of him.

"Sorry, I'm just running a scan." The bored looking man says, I just nod and lean back slightly. I then see our illustrious host walking down the steps.

"Do we have a problem here?" He asks, his accent is foreign to me. Could it be South African?

"Sir, I've just run a scan, there's no readings." The guard says.

"Let it through, I don't think our guests would travel all the way from Illium to cause trouble, do you?" He asks and the guard shakes head. "I don't believe we've met, Donovan Hock." He says, he holds his hands behind his back.

"I've heard a lot about you, David Hawk." I respond.

"I've also heard a lot about you, you've been very busy lately, if the extranet is to be believed." He says, I nod, keeping in character. "You may pass through Mr. Hawk, with my apologies." He says. Other than being a murderous, conniving smuggler; he seems like a nice guy.

We walk a few steps before he stops us again.

"Do we have a problem?" I ask innocently.

"Your friend must stay outside." He says with venom, I just nod.

"You're the host." I say.

He walks back up the steps and Kasumi turns to me.

"That went worse than expected." She mutters, putting a hand to her head.

"What's the plan now?" I say and she hums. This changes everything.

"You're going to have to do more of the work, I'll stick with you as much as I can." She says and cloaks, after handing me an earpiece.

I walk up the steps, heading into the waves of voices, this is probably going to get me killed. I could really use my guns right now. I crack my neck. Let's do this.

* * *

><p><span><strong>Daniel Brady<strong>

**Omega**

I roll my shoulder, waiting to hear something from my contact was very dull. It didn't help that Michael had nearly gotten himself killed by Captain Smith. Suddenly, my Omni-Tool beeps and I see that I have a message. It's just a location, but that's good enough for me. I knock back a bit of whiskey from the flask on my hip and walk down the filthy, junkie ridden streets.

I take a left through an alleyway. I see a man, the distant look in his eyes tells me that he's high as a kite. He brandishes a knife, I don't even hesitate to pull out my pistol, I fire and the round rips through his skull, killing him. What a waste of a metal shaving.

I'd been given a lead, some Blue Suns had been hired by the Black Hand to safely smuggle some kind of biotic enhancing drug onto the Citadel. Captain Raul Blanco is running the operation, he's not a biotic so he can't be too dangerous. Their warehouse is only through an alleyway on my right.

I walk through and see a couple of guards at the front door, I never was one for sneaking around. I take cover behind a crate and take my sniper rifle off my back. It unfurls in my hands and I peer through the scope. One Batarian, one Turian. I control my breathing and squeeze the trigger, a crack resonates through the air and the Batarian falls; next I aim over the Turian's head and fire my second shot, the result is the same.

Nice.

I admire my handiwork as I enter the factory, I put my sniper rifle on my back again and pull out my assault rifle. Suddenly, a squad of mercs burst into the corridor. I raise my rifle and open fire, their poor training meant that most of their panicky shots went wide, allowing me to cut them down with relative ease. Can someone please challenge me?

I continue walking down the corridor, I then come into one of the storage rooms. The place is full of Mercs, probably around twenty, all pointing their weapons at me.

"Thank you so much! I've been needing this!" I shout to the man standing on the balcony in front me. Wearing the traditional Black Hand armour.

"What, a quick death?" He asks, Spanish accent heavy.

"No, a challenge." I say in a singsong tone.

I see some gas pipes above him, they all have their weapons trained on me, I'll need to do this quickly. I raise my rifle and spray into the pipes, eventually I am thanked for my efforts with a huge explosion that rips through the room. I am thrown, and I slam against the wall. I cough repeatedly and my vision is swimming. I look up and see that all of the mercenaries are dead, but there's no sign of Blanco's body.

I stagger to my feet and pick up my rifle that is lying a meter away from me. Suddenly, I am slammed against the wall again. I cough, then look up to see Blanco standing over me, aiming his pistol at my head.

"Good trick Mr. Brady, but not good enough." He says.

I swing my foot out in a low, sweeping kick. He fires his gun, but he is already falling and the bullet misses me by inches. I quickly get up and plant a kick into his stomach while he's down. He grabs my leg and pulls me down with him. We begin grappling with each other, he manages to flip on top of me and pull out a knife. I manage to free my hand and I give him a right hook, causing him to drop the knife next to me, I then snatch it and drive it into his neck with all the force I can muster.

He clutches his neck and rolls off me. I am breathing heavily, he is one of the least dangerous Captains. And he still nearly killed me. I need to come up with better goddamn plans.

I look up at the ceiling and I start to feel tired.

* * *

><p><strong>An: Hey guys thanks for reading, the poll is currently nearly tied. Shepard is leading by one, if you haven't voted already, please do so. Sorry for the wait but life's been on my back, see you guys soon.<strong>

**Nfenxi: I'm not surprised Hurr Wozzeck hasn't reviewed this, I don't think it's up to that standard. Thanks for the review.**

**Starspike7: I will try to start describing things more, also I'm going to try and limit amount of times I use 'I', thanks for the review.**

**Tacticus Shadowrunner: Thanks for the review, the variety of perspectives are definitely going to play a big part at the moment. The irony of Seamus being the consulting detective is that he's Irish, so maybe I should have the villain be English, swap things around.**

**Fullbreaker: Thanks man for the review, Michael's no God, it might happen more.**

**Morjackdan: Thanks for the review, indeed it is.**

**Hiei-Uchiha: Thanks for the review, your critique is appreciated.**

**Masterdude94: Yeah Mike doesn't have much luck, Seamus O'Hanlon is very perceptive. Thanks for the review.**

**General-Joseph-Dickson: Thanks for the review, it definitely helps inspiration.**


	7. Party and Gunship Crashed

**Michael Phoenix**

I walk through the entrance into the grand hall area, and my senses are literally assaulted. The place stank of the rich and famous, this was caused mostly by people wearing very expensive perfumes. Also, Donovan Hock had hired an orchestra, I never had him down as one to respect the fine arts. I begin to feel even more out of place, so I just find a corner where nobody is looking, hoping that Kasumi would appear. I catch myself in a mirror, Kasumi did a pretty good job. Eventually, she appears out of thin air and smiles at me.

"Okay, where do we start?" I whisper, causing her eyes to light up.

"We need to look at what security the man has, let's go." She says and ushers for me to follow her.

We come to a door that sits below a few stairs, she nods and opens the door. We walk in and I see the statue of the traitorous Spectre sitting in the corner. Also, the death lasers that appear on the first layer of security are of note. I can't help but feel like James Bond at the moment; might be the suit.

"Impressive, there's more security than I thought." She muses, I shoot a glance in her direction.

"Can you still do it?" I ask and she nods.

"I can, but it just adds a little extra challenge. I love a challenge Michael." She says proudly. "Password protected voice lock, Kinetic Barrier, DNA scanner...very nice." She ponders. "We'll need a voice sample, you'll have to chat up Hock for that, we need a password, there'll be plenty of his DNA in his private quarters...and the barrier, cut the power, never fails. Keiji could get through a system like this in his sleep, and I'm better." She says.

We both walk out and she cloaks, I decide to tackle the voice lock first, and I approach our illustrious host. He sees me approaching and frowns, he clearly isn't a people person.

_"There he is, all you need to do is keep him talking long enough for us to get a voice sample. Pull out the charm on this one Mike." _Kasumi says through my earpiece.

"Mr. Hawk, good to see you. I hope you are having a good time, the incident at the door hasn't soured your experience I hope." He says and I mentally put up a defence against punching the man.

"There's always someone gunning for people like you and me." I deadpan, taking the renegade path.

"Ah, yes, that's true, I'm glad you understand." He responds and I nod.

"I'm surprised your security isn't tighter, a bold move opening your front door like this." I mention and he turns slightly.

"Yes. I suppose it is, hopefully it sends a message that I don't fear anyone stupid enough to step up to me. People these days want comfort, entertainment, love, they don't see that the galaxy is fragile. They only have to worry about simple luxuries, why? Because people like you and me, are doing the terrible things that keeps the galaxy spinning. This party is for us, the cleaners, the support structure for the galaxies gleeful delusions of peace. May there always be a market for the things we do!" He rants, his speech gathers a large applause, and I have to admit, the man knows how to work a crowd, as much as I hate to admit it.

_"Good work, you certainly got him talking."_ Kasumi says with a chuckle.

"Enjoy the party Mr. Hawk." He finishes. I nod and turn away.

If I remember correctly there is a door near the entrance which connects to the room with the password. It takes a few moments of scanning my surroundings, but I find it. I walk over and I hear my friends voice.

"I'll hack the door." She says, in an instant it shoots open and I enter.

The entrance corridor is pristine, wide and short. The door to enter the room is only about four meters ahead of me. I flare my biotics, remembering that there would be guards inside. The door opens and Kasumi decloaks, I see two guards wearing jet black armour. I raise my arm and the familiar blue washes over my body. The men rise into the air, then Kasumi makes short work of them with her pistol. That went better than expected, then again the element of surprise is powerful. I also come in with my one liner.

"Looks like, they could use a raise." I say smoothly and as soon as the words leave my mouth I want to punch myself in the face.

"Michael, you are awful." Kasumi says, laughing at my bad pun.

"You know you love it really Kasi." I say with a wink. She just shakes her head.

I look over the body of the nearest guard. He has a pistol, it looked pretty decent, so I decide to take it, placing it into the inside pocket of my suit. I then begin searching for the datapad that will have the password on it.

It only takes me a few moments to find the item, it was haphazardly thrown onto the desk. I pick it up and see the details that are already known to me. I look at the datapad and see that the password is actually different. Of course! It changes every day, the password is now Villon, named after the French thief, nice.

"Find something?" Kasumi asks eagerly.

"Yeah, the password is Villon." I say.

"Interesting, only problem with him is that he was caught." She jokes and I grin.

"Okay, we've got the voice sample and the password, what next?" I ask and she taps her foot a few times.

"I noticed a balcony that you can jump over, there are guards out there but it connects to Donovan Hock's private quarters. When we get in there we will need to find a DNA sample. After that, it's just a case of cutting off the power conduit." She explains.

"Okay, let's go." I say, she nods before cloaking.

I tilt my neck from side to side, releasing tension and making a satisfying click. I see the balcony that Kasumi had mentioned. I walk over to it, making it look like I was just trying to get some fresh air. Eventually, everyone's attention turns away from me and I leap over the edge. I always liked this option more in the games, I found it boring sorting out Chief Roe. I land with a slight thud, and I take a step forward to regain balance, I take my scavenged pistol from my suit and check it, good to go.

Kasumi uncloaks and I see her pull out her own pistol. Two mercenaries are standing further down the path and I have an idea, I turn to my companion.

"Kasi, do you have an overload program?" I ask, and she gives me a look of shock.

"Of course, I know what you're thinking." She says.

We quietly walk closer to them, we stop when we are about five feet away. Kasumi raises her Omni-Tool, presses a button and a discharge of electricity engulfs the two men, leaving them stunned and defenceless.

I raise my pistol and fire one well placed shot into the head of the man on the left, Kasumi finishes the one on the right. Their bodies slump to the floor, nearly in unison and I smirk.

"That must have been quite a shock." I say, and Kasumi gives me a death stare.

"Really?" She hisses.

"Alright, I'll stop." I say, still smiling.

We continue walking until we see the glass window that will give us access to the room.

"After you." Kasumi says politely

I aim my weapon at the glass and fire one shot, surprisingly it breaks like it wasn't even there. You'd think that someone like Donovan Hock would invest in bulletproof glass. Well, it works for me.

We both clamber inside, I pat myself down; getting rid of any glass shards that may have nestled in my suit. Suddenly, a sinister thought slams against my mind. All of this apathy and selfishness that these people are guilty of, will damage our chances in the war against the Reapers. It's only four years until they hit Earth, I feel myself pale at this realization, the Galaxy isn't ready.

"Are you okay?" Kasumi asks, I shake my head vigorously.

"Yeah, I'm good, lets get that DNA." I say, breathing in deeply.

We both walk and enter the room, it was grand to say the least. Very spacious, with lavish furniture and clean to the point where the room was nearly shining. I instantly go over to a glass that I see on the table to my left. Kasumi sees what I am doing and scans the object.

"We've got a partial DNA sample here, we'll need more, but it's a good start." She says and I nod.

I then walk over to what looks like Hock's desk. I see the datapad, and once again Kasumi scans it.

"Nice work Michael, we need probably one more sample." She says happily.

I notice another datapad on the desk, this one seemed urgent. Picking it up, my eyes hover over the item.

* * *

><p><strong>Donovan Hock- <strong>

**I know that you have had some difficulties recently. However, we need the payment for what we provided you with. You have two days, or death.**

**-Captain Eva Smith**

* * *

><p>Dammit.<p>

The Black Hand have been hounding Hock for money, plus Captain Smith was behind the threats. I grit my teeth, thinking about the last time I encountered the psychotic biotic. There's nothing more I can learn from this.

sigh, before strutting over to the antique swords that are attached to the wall, beaming at me with a pride long forgotten. It inspires me in a way; Kasumi breaks me out of my reverie and scans the blades. She gives a triumphant smirk and turns to face me.

"Good work Michael, it's almost like you've done this before." She says, and I chuckle nervously.

"Yeah, so what now?" I ask.

"We get out of here, cut the power to the kinetic barrier and then the heist begins." She mutters darkly. She turns to walk away, I gently grab her wrist.

"Kasumi, I know he meant a lot to you but don't let your emotions control you. It will get you killed." I say, worried about my companion.

"He did. I know not to let my feelings get in the way." She replys coldly and I pinch the bridge of my nose, letting out a sigh.

We walk out of the room, well, Kasumi storms out of it. I release another sigh, I might need to watch her back a little bit more now. She can't go taking an unnecessary risk and getting herself killed, I'd never forgive myself.

Eventually we make it to the door that would take us back into the party. Kasumi opens it and I see that the guard who had been on duty has disappeared. Oh well, it made our job a lot easier.

There's only one thing to do now, that's taking down the power to the barrier.

Kasumi turns to me and I can see the fire in her eyes, she opens her Omni-Tool.

"I've adjusted your Omni-Tool, now it will pick up the electrical energy created by the generator." She says.

"Got it." I say.

The thief merely nods and disappears again thanks to her cloak. I already know where the generator is, so I fake it, making it look like I'm looking around. A few people give me strange looks, I manage to keep my blush in check. Socialization with a large amount of people was never my thing. Eventually, I come to the fireplace. I notice a button and press it, this reveals the generator. The sudden sound of an overload causes me to jump in fright.

"That's it, we should go down and disable the security." Kasumi says and I nod.

I can't believe that actually went smoothly, this isn't a video game and so much could have gone wrong with this; I guess I got lucky.

I walk down the steps, catching the eyes of a few people, that couldn't be good. I make it to the room housing the security systems and I stare up at the statue. Despite it not being real, it felt like the image of Saren was piercing my soul.

Kasumi decloaks, revealing herself. She then raises her Omni-Tool to the DNA scanner.

_"DNA scan confirmed, welcome Mr. Hock." The VI says._

She then does the same with the voice recognition. This causes the locked door to submit control.

"Suit up Michael, I'm going to take care of the cameras." Kasumi says in a business like tone.

I open my Omni-Tool and run it over the statue, after a second the plinth of the statue comes out, presenting my gear. My familiar jet black armour with the blood red stripe on the one side is the first item that I put on, the gloves of the armour coming on last. Next, I take my Death Mask and place it on my head, air hisses as the helmet equalised the pressure. Finally, I take my pistols Ebony and Ivory. Ebony on my right, Ivory on my left.

I roll my wrists and crack my neck, preparing myself for combat. I definitely feel ready, however I remember the kind of firepower that will be sent at us. That could be a problem.

"You're dressed to kill, hope you can back it up tough guy." Kasumi says with a teasing smile, thankfully she looks better now.

"We'll soon find out, I'm pretty confident that we can handle this." I lie, in all honesty, I'm no Commander Shepard. So I am going to be lucky to leave alive.

"I have every bit of faith in your ability Michael." She says warmly, and I can't tell if she's lying or not.

"Thanks, shall we then?" I ask, she nods and we both enter the elevator.

Eventually, the elevator comes to a stop and the door opens with a hiss. Looking around, I see that it is even more spectacular in person. The head of Lady Liberty, acting as a centrepiece for the entire vault. Several breathtakingly amazing pieces of art stand proud on pedestals, how did he get these? Kasumi whistles, I am still awed.

"So this is Donovan Hock's vault? Nice." She observes, I glance at her.

"Understatement." I say, deadpan, my filtered voice making it more monotonous.

She walks ahead and I simply follow her, she'll know where the graybox is; there's no sense in me meddling. We come to a table, sure enough the graybox is there. The master thief opens her Omni-Tool, lines of code appear above the object and I hold my breath for a few moments.

_"Don't bother Mrs. Goto, it's code locked. I had a feeling it was you at the door, I knew if it was really you that you'd get through anyway." _The voice of Donovan Hock announces, and his head appears as a hologram in front of us.

"You know me, I don't like to disappoint." The woman next to me retorts, voice laced with venom.

_"I'm going to need to take that graybox from you Kasumi..."_

I stop listening to his rant and take a few steps to the right, looking at the enlarged drinking glass of a statue that is sat on the large display pedestal. I take Ivory off of my hip and start scanning the elegant curves of the weapon. Eventually, I make a decision and fire the weapon, causing it to jolt in my hand. The statue shatters and I look at the shocked face of our host.

"You talk too much. There's only one way you're leaving here, that's in a bag. If you even so much as scratch Kasumi, you won't live long enough to see the barrel of my gun." I say, my voice is dark and toxic, he looks stunned.

"That was a very expensive artefact _Dante, _now would be a good time to get on your knees and beg for mercy." The smuggler hisses, and a detail of ten mercenaries including Chief Roe, burst into the room.

"Sorry Mr. Hock, I do not wish to meet the same fate as your mother from the previous evening." I mock, putting a posh twist on the old joke.

A vain appears to pop in his face. "Kill them!" He screams and I dive behind one of the statues. As soon as I do, a flurry of rounds smashes into my position.

My head peeks out of my cover and I see a mercenary encroaching on my position. An arc of electricity ripples across his body, destroying his shields; I take the opportunity and point Ivory at him. I pull the trigger and a round crashes through his skull.

"Thought I'd make your job easier!" My comrade calls out, I just laugh.

"Pooor guy, didn't know what'd hit him!" I call back and she manages to cut down two enemies that had gotten too close to the deadly lady.

Two mercenaries run at me, guns blazing. I needed to time this move perfectly. One was extremely close to me, I draw on my biotics and use a pull with my left hand, causing his weapon to point away from me. I then put the barrel of Ivory to his head and fire, killing him. His body is caught in my arms before it falls and I spin myself around, the dead man's armour takes all of the gunfire from his friend. When his weapon overheats, I let go of my human shield and use a biotic throw to send him flying into his friend. The mercenary impacts the wall and is ended by a few shots from my beloved handgun.

Kasumi shoots another enemy down and the total had dropped to four. The odds are definitely in our favour. Suddenly, I see a fireball flying towards me, I quickly roll out of the way to avoid being incinerated, unfortunately this means I had left my cover. Multiple rounds impact my shields and I am forced to bring up a biotic barrier to protect myself as I Sprint back to cover.

Chief Roe certainly knows her tech.

I violently crash into cover, a bruise will probably form on my back in a few hours. I come out of cover when I see Chief Roe trying to storm my position. She gets in my face and throws a punch at me which is caught in my hand, I sweep my right leg in a low kick which drops her to the floor. Suddenly, she opens her Omni-Tool and I have to throw myself backwards to stop myself being killed by a giant fireball. She capitalizes on this and tackles me to the floor, she is on top of me and I have grabbed her wrists to stop her from killing me. I force her hands away and force my hands forward.

I flare my biotics viciously, and she is thrown off of me and into the wall. I pull out both of my pistols and I riddle her with shot after shot, only stopping once I feel the heat beginning to burn through the gloves that I'm wearing. She's clearly dead when I look at her, her body is covered with holes.

Rest in pieces, bitch.

I turn around to see that Kasumi had finished off the rest of the Eclipse mercenaries. _Very nice._ It's clear that she's so much more skilled than I am, I gain even more respect for the woman than I had before.

She strolls over to me, hips swaying and I let out a low whistle. "Nice work. Where do we go from here?" I ask.

She crosses her arms before bringing up her Omni-Tool and taking a quick glance. "There's a landing pad to the east, I've called in the shuttle pilot." She explains.

The previously glorious vault was now ripe with bullet holes and scorch marks, not that Hock will survive to clean it up anyway. I take Ebony off of my hip, preparing myself for more combat. My heart and lungs are on fire, my fitness isn't exactly amazing.

The door opens and I see several Eclipse mercenaries aiming their weapons at us; I manage to dive behind a few crates as Kasumi cloaks and disappears from my sight completely. I quickly stand on my feet when I hear the distinct sound of an overload, it had dropped the shields of two mercs, upon inspection I see that there's about seven. I aim down range and squeeze off three shots at each unshielded enemy and they drop to the floor._ Thank you Kasumi for being an overload goddess._

Suddenly, I hear a rush of air and the booming retort of an explosion behind me, I am thrown forward and out of my cover, my shields are nearly down to nothing. I stagger to my feet and stumble back to cover, however a stray shot clips my stomach. I cough repeatedly behind cover, fortunately my armour dealt with most of the impact. I know this because after looking down, I see a dent in the stomach area. It hurts like a bitch, it'll probably leave a nasty bruise too.

I then realise something that is so stupid, I nearly fainted from embarrassment. I'd never learnt how to apply Medi-Gel, this leaves me slightly stuck. Eventually, my shields recharge and I glance out of cover again. I see that the thief had killed the rest, save for two who are firing wildly at my position, likely out of panic as the rounds are flying everywhere.

I look to my right and see Kasumi, readying for another attack. She looks at me and I think I have an idea of what she wants me to do. Her Omni-Tool opens and she unleashes an overload on the two men, causing them to practically stumble out of cover. I take out Ivory to accompany Ebony and put five shots into the men who were unable to dodge the attack. They drop down to the floor with the corresponding number of holes in them.

I stand up and I feel pain in my stomach from where a shot clipped me. I stagger and wince in pain, despite the fact I'm wearing a helmet, Kasumi still notices this.

Her face shows worry and she places a hand on my shoulder. "Michael, are you okay?" She asks.

I clutch the spot where I was hit and sure enough a rush of pain washes over me. "Yeah, a round just clipped me. Hurts like a bitch." I hiss.

She looks at me weirdly. "Why haven't you applied Medi-Gel?" She asks.

I feel my face heat up under my helmet and I stutter. "W-well, I don't know how..." I trail off at the end.

She sighs and presses a few buttons on her Omni-Tool, suddenly I feel relief flood over me. I breath a sigh of pleasure and nod.

"Thanks Kasumi." I say.

She smiles and ushers for me to follow her. "Come on, we should get going." She says with a hurried tone.

I simply nod and we both walk quickly. After a few seconds of walking I hear Hock's voice.

_"Close the door, trap them in the vault." _He demands and a blast gate in front of us shuts down.

"Dammit, we'll have to find another way." She says, sounding slightly angry, a tone she doesn't often use.

I groan in frustration, I _hate _that man. If I get my hands on him...I don't know what I'd do. We go right and up a flight of stairs, I see a door and we walk through it.

We come to a room which looks like it processes goods to enter the vault. As we enter, we are immediately forced into cover by a hail of gunfire that erupts from the mercenaries scattered throughout the room. I breath in deeply at the severity of the situation we are now in. There's around twenty mercenaries that include Asari Vanguards, rocket troopers and snipers.

Sure, I've snuck into a few places and killed a handful of Mercs while doing it, but this is a different story! Okay, calm.

I peer out of my cover and a shot from a sniper rifle narrowly misses my face.

Okay, staying calm might be difficult!

I notice a container above us that has an explosive hazard warning slapped on it, this reminded me of what Shepard could do in Miranda's loyalty mission. I point Ebony and Ivory at the supports of the crane that is suspending the container, I then fire a volley of shots at the target. Eventually it comes loose and drops, exploding in a classic fury of red and orange and yellow. The shockwave throws me off balance and I smile, realising the object had killed off half of the mercenaries.

I put Ebony back on my hip and survey the situation. The rocket troopers and the snipers had been taken out in the explosion, leaving only two Asari Vanguards and the least skilled of the organized criminals.

Two of the mercenaries, a man and woman decided to try and be like Rambo, they try to rush our position. They instantly find themselves caught in Kasumi's overload and taking fire from the both of us, making short work of them. I smile, but then realise that I had smiled after killing a person.

I need to have some serious words with myself when I get back from this.

I lean out of cover.

Bad idea.

I feel myself get impacted by something, pain fires all throughout my body and I am thrown into a group of crates. My handguns lying discarded several metres away from me. I look up and see that the one of the Asari had charged me, her skin is a luscious shade of purple and I am temporarily mesmerized, however, I need to act. Suddenly, the air flickers behind her and I see Kasumi strike her in the back of the head. This gives me an opportunity to recover and use a lift on the stunned Asari. I then launch a warp attack, upon contact it causes a biotic explosion that kills the Asari, she must have been a young Matron.

I take a grenade off of her belt along with the detonator and dive behind cover, narrowly avoiding death by gunfire. A group of four mercenaries are clustered behind cover and if I can get the grenade in the right place, it will take them all down. I flare my biotics in one hand and bring up a barrier, I then make a desperate sprint for them. They seem too shocked to fire at first and by team they do, I've already thrown the grenade on the ground next to them. I then jump backwards and land awkwardly behind a few crates. I press the button and an explosion rips through the enemies.

I breath in, then my ears are greeted with sounds of punches, gunshots and screams. Picking myself up, I walk to where the remaining mercenaries had been and see Kasumi grinning at me.

"Good work, I liked the improvisation with the container." She says with a wink and I nod.

"Thanks for the save." I reply and she just chuckles.

"Don't worry, somebody has to save your ass." She responds and I crack my knuckles.

Donovan Hock is waiting now.

I head over to the tank that is sitting conveniently in front of the wall. I point to the cannon and Kasumi instantly knows what to do. She hacks the systems and in less than five seconds she has remotely fired the main gun and left a huge gap in the wall. We make our way through the hole, I have Ivory raised and Kasumi sweeps the room through the gap while I provide overwatch.

Kasumi shakes her head and almost spits. "No sign of them, either we killed most of them, or they regrouped on the launch pad." She remarks.

I scoff and shake my head. "That's a very distinct line between a good and bad situation." I reply.

She smiles at me. "Just one more challenge." She finishes and we exit onto the launch pad.

The launch pad was considerably larger than it appeared in the game. The place was silent, then the hum of an engine assaulted my hearing. I dive behind a concrete block as the weapons of Hock's gunship fire on our position, the gunfire was a hailstorm of death.

I pull out Ebony to accompany Ivory just as seven mercenaries appear from various spots. Kasumi, who was just next to me, cloaks and disappears. She then becomes visible again after stabbing the hell out of the closest mercenary. She then directs an overload at the two on my right. I lean out of cover and hose them down with persistent gunfire.

As I had exited cover, Hock had fired a missile. I quickly erect a biotic barrier and I am thrown against the wall. It hurts like hell, but no doubt I would be dead without the barrier. Kasumi had taken down another two mercenaries.

A lift escapes my fingers and the remaining Eclipse are hoisted into the air, at which point the master thief makes short work of them. A smirk finds its way to my face and the asshat smuggler seems less than pleased.

"Fuck you Dante! Even if I die, the Black Hand will kill you. There is no escape!" He bellows and I laugh.

"Then I'll have to take the fight to them." I reply with a cocky undertone.

"I see an opening. I can take out his shields." Kasumi shouts. She jumps onto a group of pipes, then leaps through the air like an eagle onto the man's gunship. Her Omni-Tool opens and an arc of electricity ripples across the gunship. The shields die out, she then jumps off and land cleanly next to me.

"Ten out of Ten from the judges!" I complement.

I look around, in the hope of finding a weapon that I could use against the flying death machine. I notice a rocket launcher lying next to a dead mercenary on the floor, I dash towards the weapon, narrowly avoiding a rocket and snatching it from the ground. I see that machine gun fire is approaching me, so I snatch at the trigger five teams and the rockets shoot out.

One clips the engine and the gunship begins to spin out of control, suddenly it begins to hurtle towards me. The last things I hear before something impacts my head and the darkness takes over are an explosion and my name being shouted...

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Sorry for the long wait, a lot of things have been happening lately. I hope you guys liked the one-liners and action, bit like a James Bond film. Reviews are always appreciated, now more than ever. Have a nice day, thanks for reading.<strong>

**Starspike7: Thank you for your review and continued support.**

**Tacticus Shadowrunner: Thanks for the review, the perspective changes are there to keep things fresh.**

**Masterdude94: Thanks for the review, and the compliment. It's good to have fans who have been here for the entire ride.**

**Fullbreaker: Thanks for the review.**

**General-Joseph-Dickson: Thanks for the review, they do indeed. I can already imagine the carnage.**


	8. Wakeup and Planning

_I crack open my eyes and see a plain of darkness spreading out in all directions, engulfing me entirely. I try to stand up but realise that my hands are bound to a steel chair, I'm trapped like a rat to be experimented on. I hear footsteps and I squint, eventually I see the shape of a woman walking towards me and I grimace._

_Captain Eva Smith of the Black Hand is advancing towards me, hips swaying, with a sexy but deadly smirk on her face. She is flicking her knife up in the air and catching it repeatedly, signalling her intent. If she wasn't about to murder me, I'd find it very sexy. She stops, then sits on my lap with the same evil grin. She draws the knife up my chest, causing me to wince and she chuckles._

_"Dante...It's a shame it had to end this way, you were an acceptable challenge." She says with an almost sad sigh._

_Without warning she brings the knife down viciously on my chest and I scream, she repeats this multiple times, suddenly a piercing bright light shines out of my wounds and I am blinded by a flash of white._

* * *

><p>I let out a few laboured, ragged breaths and realise that I'm not dead. Strange. I can hear the repetetive beeping of several machines, and smell the distinct scent of alcohol hand gel. I hesitate, but open my eyes slowly. At first my vision is blurred and I can hardly make out any shapes, however after a few seconds I can see a doctor labouring away on a terminal. I try to speak but only a few scratchy coughs leave my mouth, however this is sufficient to make him turn around and walk over to my bed.<p>

"Mr. Phoenix, you gave us quite the scare. We didn't know if you were going to wake up at all." He says, his voice becoming quite serious.

I eventually manage to speak, albeit quietly. "I'm sorry...what?" I'm quite confused by this.

"We had to put you in a coma for three months. We also had to pump you full of different things to stop your muscles from breaking down entirely. We've even entered 2183, it's the seventh of January." He says and only two things enter my mind. Holy shit, I'm twenty, I missed my fucking birthday! Eden Prime is coming up too...that's kind of important, I guess.

"Well shit...that sounds pretty serious doc. So when can I go?" He asks and he shifts his eyes to the door.

"Actually, you have a guest. He was adamant to talk to you, he's a bit of a minor celebrity on the lower wards." He says and I am suddenly intruiged, but before my mind can run wild with possibilites, the door opens.

It reveals a shaggy looking blonde with piercing green eyes. I notice who he is immediately but my emotions don't take hold, either because I'm tired or because I've seen too much shit. He walks over to my bed side and puts his hand on the rail of my bed before letting out a content sigh.

"Look who stumbled his way onto the Citadel, eh Mike?" He laughs and I crack a weak smile.

"Seamus...it's been a while huh?" I say and he nods.

"Yeah, it has. I hate to break up our reuinion with buisness man, but I think I have something that might interest you." He says, suddenly becoming serious.

I sit up and pat his shoulder reassuringly. "Don't worry man, what've you got?" I say.

"I have a lot of information on a very high profile Black Hand operation on the Citadel, could give us more information on their operations on Omega." He explains and I stiffen.

"Hit me." I say, no emotion. Just buisness.

"There's a high profile Captain who is in control of a base on the Citadel, a human called Salazar Zokora. He's a very powerful biotic, ex-N4 operator, he was kicked from the program for killing his instructor. From the small amount of information I have, I know that this base houses a data cache that details a lot of their activites, this is big Mikey. The base is guarded by Blue Suns, from what Dan managed to gather, they lost a lot of their people attacking another group, so they hire mercenaries. Oh yeah, I got in touch with him on Omega." He says and I nod.

"Then why are we still here?" I ask, voice with renewed confidence.

"No, meet me at the location on your Omni-Tool, I'll send you a message when I leave. Gear up and go there, then we'll discuss the plan." He suggests, meeting my eyes and smiling softly. "I'm glad your okay man, I missed you." He mutters softly.

I smile back. "Thanks man, I'm glad to see your still kicking too." I say and he nods, without anything else to say he leaves. I am still smiling at the knowledge that another one of my friends is here.

The situation with the Black Hand is troubling though. What do they want? Why did they start gunning for Dan? Why did Dan attack them? So many questions, I guess the raid will answer many of those...wait...where's Kasumi? What the hell happened? Why didn't I question this sooner? The last I remember, the gunship was going down...It must have crashed and injured me.

Maybe I should take out a life insurance policy. I would send people things they need. Kai Leng would get a cuddely toy, the Illusive Man would get an E-cigarette, Joker would get NOW Dance Tracks 2183, Miranda would get normal clothes, Wrex would get a steak, Jack would get a stress ball, ah the possibilities are endless.

I clamber out of the bed and see that my armour had been left on a stand, with my pistols, however from a glance I can tell that the ammo blocks are missing. The weapon is basically useless.

I walk over to the armour and quickly suit up, mentally preparing myself for the raid. I mean, I'm pretty good in battle, but I'm not a professional killer. There's a very good chance I'll end up getting killed, frankly that thought terrifies me. I'm not fucking invincible!

I play with the gauntlets on my wrists and attach my now harmless pistols to my hips, I'll need to buy a bloody ammo block now. I finally pull on my Death Mask and I smile, the armour always makes me feel more secure.

I walk out of the hospital room, and follow the signs to the exit. That was easy enough to do. As I'm making my way out of the entrance walkway, I hear a voice calling out to me. I look down from the low balcony and see a familiar hooded figure, standing in an alleyway below. I vault over the railing and land semi-gracefully on the ground below. I then approach and see that it is indeed Kasumi Goto who had shouted my name.

I look her up and down, same woman. "I'm surprised you're here, shouldn't you be off raiding the vaults of the rich?" I ask, sarcasm dripping from every word.

She crosses her arms over her chest and leans back slightly. "Not at the moment, the last one was a little too exciting. I'm glad you're okay Michael, I really thought they'd lost you." She says, tone going from sarcasm, to concern in mere moments.

"I'm glad you got me out of there, thanks." I mutter awkwardly while shifting on the spot.

She plays with her hair for a moment. "It's no problem, not only did we come out with our lives; I also got the Graybox." She says, voice perking up slightly.

I sigh. "I know it probably makes you feel closer to him, I've done my research. You can't keep it Kasumi, the memories will consume you...tear you down." I whisper, thinking of my family, causing my throat to swell and jaw to tighten.

She shifts uncomfortably, causing me to raise my eyebrows under the helmet. "I just can't bring myself to destroy it." She mutters sadly.

"I can do it for you, if you want to." I reply, not sounding too enthusiastic.

"Okay." She says, emotionless. She hands me the Graybox.

"I don't have Ammo blocks for my weapons." I point out and a ghost of a smile appears on her face.

She pulls out two phasic ammo blocks. "I took them out of your weapon as a precaution, somebody could come into your room and use your own weapon on you." She says and tosses them to me, I catch them and place them into Ebony and Ivory.

I drop the Graybox onto the floor, drawing both weapons, I unleash a barrage of rounds into it. Sparks erupt from the item and the small light on the outside dies. I sigh, I wish it didn't have to end like this. It would be best for Kasi if he was still alive.

"Thank you...Michael, I know where you're going with Seamus. Be careful please, I don't want me saving you to waste." She says, voice betraying her worry, despite the attempt at sarcasm.

"I'm always careful." I say, and then she just disappears. Leaving me by myself.

I holster my weapons and hold my right hand up to my helmet, this day has been a rollercoaster...It's not even over yet. I looked at the message Seamus had sent me just before leaving the hospital, he wanted me to meet him in an out of the way alleyway, near the target. A thought strikes me. 'I spend most of my time in alleyways and warehouses.' I mean, seriously why can't anything exciting happen somewhere else?

Needless to say, I feel a bit like James Bond after his near death experience in Skyfall, minus the shaking and alcoholism. That could be one avenue to pursue, maybe I could join the Corsairs, they don't ask too many questions. That will have to wait for now.

I approach the warehouse, I enter through the front door and I see Seamus pointing his pistol at me. As he notices who I am, he lowers it. I waltz over and see that he is dressed in a grey suit of armour with his pistol now strapped to his side. He has no other weapons in sight.

I lean on a few crates, arms crossed. "Is that all you're taking, a pistol?" I ask him suspiciously.

He runs his free hand through his hair and nods. "There's no point me carrying a weapon I can't use, surely you're intelligent enough to know that Michael." He replays, tone mixed with slight annoyance. "And how do you intend to use two hand guns?" He adds.

I don't skip a beat. "Double the weapons, double the kills. Also, my biotics help a lot." I say and he looks slightly bewildered. "Style points are added too."

"That has got to be the most stupid thing you've said, that's saying a lot." He replys with slight annoyance.

"Now, now my Irish companion. You have never seen me in action, I assure you, having two pistols helps the ambidextrous." I say reassuringly, my voice smooth.

"Alright, anything else before we leave?" He offers, I simply laugh.

"Yeah, a rundown on the plan would be good." I point out, he just nods.

"The facility is powered by one generator and a backup generator. The backup generator only comes online ten minutes after the original generator turns off, or in this case, explodes. I will blow up the generator and then we will both enter through two different entrances. You will go in from the north, I'll go in from the south. By the time we've managed to fight our way to the data room, the backup would have come online so we can access their network. At some point we will fight the Captain here, be careful as he is a high risk enemy. Once we secure the data, we will need to escape via a skycar that I have parked in a nearby alley. Don't do anything stupid." He says, placing his helmet onto his head as he finishes.

"Sounds good, let's go." I say enthusiastically.

The plan was good, Seamus always had one. The destruction of the backup generator would merely be to cause panic and a distraction. That will give us a better chance against the Blue Suns who are guarding the place, plus it will shut down any self destruct protocols they may have. Even if they initiate one with a backup generator, we should have enough time to get the goods and run.

The only problem is that their could be as many as fifty enemies in that base, that doesn't do our odds any good favours. Although it will make for a hell of a tale to tell the Normandy Crew if we survive. That's a big if, in all honesty.

Let's do this.

"Ready Mr. Phoenix?" Seamus jokes.

"Certainly Mr. O'Hanlon." I reply.

* * *

><p><strong>Once again, sorry for the short and long time taken to update. Life has been a killer and I'm afraid I will not be updating as frequently. However, I will not abandon this story. No matter if I suffer. Thanks for reading, please consider leaving a review. Our hero will also meet a very important character at the bar in the next chapter.<strong>

**Fullbreaker: Thanks for the review.**

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**That's all for now folks.**


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